================
   TIGER CLAW
================

-----------------------------------
Part 1c:  Murder, Madness, & Mayhem
-----------------------------------

	Ranma spun around to face Kuno, who stood in the gateway literally glowing
in rage.  The blade of his unsheathed katana glittered in the sunlight.

	(Oh man, he looks totally pissed off.  I've NEVER seen him this mad before!
 And with that katana, there's no doubt he's really serious this time.)

	"Saotome, today you die.  You have tormented Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed
girl for too long.  Your evil reign ends now!"

	With his customary bravado, Ranma snapped, "You're still going on about
that?  Well, I'm ready for anything you can dish out!"  

	(Just great, all my fiancees are ready to pound me, my mom thinks I'm a
liar, and Kuno's out for blood.  What else can go....)
	
	"Ranma, prepare to DIE!"  Ryoga jumped over the wall.  For once, he didn't
land on top of Kuno's head.

	(...wrong?  Shit!  WHEN will I learn to stop asking stupid questions like
that?)

	"What now, Ryoga!?  Didn't suffer enough yesterday, pig boy?"

	"Shut up, Ranma!  What you do to me is one thing, but there's no WAY that
I'm going to let you force Akane into another secret wedding!"

	At the same time, Kuno shouted, "I forbid it!  Do you hear me, Saotome?  I
ABSOLUTELY forbid it!  How dare you defile the sacred rite of matrimony to
satisfy your base lusts!"  

	Ranma blinked, then blurted out, "Wedding!?  Matrimony!?"

	The four fiancees and his mother said in ominous tones, "RANMMAA!!!!"

	Ranma turned around to face the women glaring at him.  "Hey, don't look at
me!  I DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NO WEDDING!!!"
	  
	He snarled to himself, (Pop, if this was one of your stupid ideas, I'm gonna
kill you!)

--------------

	In her hiding place, Yonoko held a hand over each clay figurine and softly
whispered a single word.

--------------

	The skin on the back of Ranma's neck prickled, a sure sign of danger, and he
cursed himself for taking his attention off Kuno and Ryoga for even a second.
 He immediately spun back around to confront them and took an aggressive step
forward.

	"Okay, that's it!  I've had enough of you and your stupid challenges!  Which
of you guys wants to be first?"

	(Come on, come on.  Go for it.  If I can get these guys arguing as
usual....)

	Kuno and Ryoga didn't even bother to look at each other, but instead took a
simultaneous step forward.  Ranma frowned and took up a fighting stance.

--------------

	Yonoko took a firm grip on the long silver pin and stabbed downward, pinning
two of her magic wards to the straw doll.

--------------

	 Ranma abruptly clutched his head as a storm of hideous cat images tore
through his mind.   

	"AGGGHHHH!"	

	He shuddered visibly as an all too familiar sensation of fear began to well
up inside him as he stared at Kuno and Ryoga.  There was something terribly
WRONG about them -- their posture, their movements, everything....  He slowly
began to back away from his opponents, who both looked grimly satisfied with
Ranma's reaction.  A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Ranma's face and
he started to make soft choked noises.  

	"C-c-caa...caaaa...caaaatt...."

	"A cat?" Akane quickly scanned the area.  Finding nothing, she said in
confusion, "There aren't any cats here!"

	Ranma lifted a badly shaking hand and pointed in Kuno's and Ryoga's
direction.  Ryoga simply smirked while Kuno grinned in savage pleasure and
gloated, "That's right, crawl in terror as befits such a loathsome, craven
worm!"
	
	"Ranma?  What's wrong?"  Ukyo sounded just as bewildered as Akane.	

	Nodoka frowned at her son's blatantly obvious terror and sharply scolded
him.  "Ranma!  This is most unseemly behavior for a martial artist!"

	"C-c-c-cattt...."  Ranma seemed incapable of saying anything else as
sickening memories of glowing, hungry eyes, of sharp teeth and sharper claws,
dominated his mind and blocked out everything else.

--------------

	Yonoko watched the scene unfolding in the Tendo compound and smiled in
malicious amusement.  Two years of careful observation and preparation
certainly had its uses.  Leaving the straw doll to do its dark work, she
lifted her hands.  In response to her gestures, wisps of arcane energy began
to swirl around each of the clay figurines on the table.

--------------

	As Ranma and the others watched in horror, Ryoga and Kuno suddenly collapsed
to the ground and began to scream as their bodies started to warp and swell.
 Clothes split from bulging muscles, and fur sprouted.  Their faces
lengthened into muzzles with jawfuls of long, gleaming teeth while human
limbs became paws tipped with knife-like claws.  The screams deepened into
low, bestial rumbles.

	The transformations were appallingly quick.  Kuno was now a huge blue tiger
with black markings while Ryoga had changed into a slightly smaller but
bulkier yellow tiger, also with black markings.  Their eyes had a unholy
green glow as they slowly paced forward, claws unsheathed and saliva dripping
from their gaping jaws.

	A strangled scream tore its way out of Ranma's throat as he frantically
scrambled backward until he ended up cowering against his fiancees and his
mother.  The cat creatures were his worst fears spun into material form, and
magnified a hundredfold.  And they were coming for HIM.

	"No no nononono...!"

	The blue tiger uttered a strangely pitched, hissing snarl.  At the sound,
Ranma cried out in pain and collapsed onto the porch.  Akane and Nodoka
quickly knelt down beside him.  As Akane held his shoulders, Nodoka asked
her, "What's wrong with him?"  

	"I...I don't know!"  

	Akane was frantically thinking, (Surely Ranma should have gone into the
Neko-ken by now!  What's stopping him!?)  She could see him flinch with every
snarl or growl the tigers made.  Even as she watched, he curled up into a
tight ball and covered his ears with his hands in an effort to shut out the
tigers' cries.

	"Stop...stop it...leave me alone...stop...hurts...!"

	Ukyo winced at Ranma's low cries of anguish, then turned to glare furiously
at the tigers.  "Damn it, I don't care if you things ARE Ryoga or Kuno, I'm
not going to let you hurt him!  HIYAA!"  She leapt forward and hurled a
handful of spatulas directly at the tigers, but the spatulas simply bounced
off the creatures' thick fur.

	As Ukyo swore in frustration, Kodachi knocked her aside and snapped, "Stupid
wench, get out of my way!"  

	"Hey!  Watch it!"  Ukyo ducked as the metal-edged ribbon whipped through the
air just above her head and struck its chosen target, the blue tiger which
had once been her own brother -- not that ties of blood had ever deterred the
Kuno siblings from attempting to inflict severe bodily harm on each other.
 Unfortunately, Kodachi's ribbon turned out to be just as ineffectual as
Ukyo's spatulas.  The tigers shrugged off the girls' attacks, their attention
clearly focused only on Ranma.

	Ukyo picked herself off the ground just as Shampoo yanked one of her hair
ornaments loose and threw it with all her Amazon strength at the blue tiger's
eye.  The ornament sank deep into the eye socket, causing the tiger to roar
in pain, a cry that was weakly echoed by Ranma.  Shampoo's shout of triumph
suddenly became a hiss of dismay as she watched the tiger claw the ornament
out of its eye which then instantly healed.  However, the injury managed to
briefly halt the cat creatures' advance.

	Ukyo started to back away from the tigers. In a tense voice, she said, "I
think we're in trouble."  Then she glared at Shampoo. "Where are those damn
maces you're always carrying around?"

	"Stupid spatula girl!  Shampoo here for private talk, not duel!  Not polite
to carry big weapon around even if talk is with mother-in-law!"  The Amazon
was also backing away from the tigers who had resumed their slow advance.
 "Shampoo could ask same thing about you and big spatula!"

	"What a great time for both of us to pick up some manners!"  

	(And I'm NEVER going to get caught unarmed like this again.  NEVER!  I don't
care what that stupid book on etiquette says!), thought Ukyo.

	(And I'm NEVER going to get caught unarmed like this again.  NEVER!  I don't
care what that stupid book on etiquette says!), thought Shampoo.

	Ukyo then said in a much more conciliatory voice, "What do you say to a...
uh, strategic retreat?"  She pointed over her shoulder toward the front door
of the Tendo house.

	Shampoo nodded abruptly. "No can fight monsters unarmed. When inside, head
for dojo and weapons."

	"Gotcha."

	Kodachi joined the two of them in their slow retreat.  "I'm quite in
accordance. What are you fools waiting for?"

--------------

	The directional microphones picked up the girls' conversation perfectly.
 Yonoko murmured, "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere, ladies."

	She chanted for a few seconds and a small transparent cube appeared between
her hands.  Yonoko suddenly clapped her hands together and the cube vanished
in a flash of light.

--------------

	Akane had come to the same decision.  She left Ranma in his mother's care
and started struggling with the front door.  Ukyo ran up behind her and
tensely asked, "Akane, what's the holdup?  We've got to get into the house
and away from those things!"	

	Akane snarled, "I'm trying!  The door won't open!"  

	"What do you mean, it won't open?"  Ukyo jerked the door handle but the
front door refused to move.  "Damn!  Shampoo!"

	Shampoo dragged her gaze away from the stalking beasts. "What now?"

	"See if you can get this door open!"

	"Akane pick fine time to lock us out of house!"

	"It's not locked!  It just won't open!" Akane protested.

	"Stupid Akane!"  The Amazon yanked, then pounded on the door. But try as she
might, the front door refused to budge.

	Akane bit her lip.  (With Shampoo's strength, she shouldn't have a problem
smashing a hole through the wall, much less trying to get that stupid front
door open!)

	"Is no good!"

	"What's going on here?"  Kodachi clenched her fists and looked as if she
wanted to strangle something, anything.

	"Maybe we can just edge along the wall...."  Ukyo tried to step off the
right side of the porch but found a unpleasant surprise.

	"Shit!  There's something blocking the way!"  Ukyo pounded her fists on an
invisible surface at the edge of the porch.

	"What!?"  Akane tried the other side of the porch and found the same sort of
invisible barrier.

	Shampoo grimly looked upward and threw her other hair ornament straight up.
 Instead of punching through the roof of the porch, it ricocheted in mid-air
and landed at her feet.  The girls soon found that only the front edge of the
porch -- the side closest to the approaching tigers -- was not blocked off by
an invisible barrier.

	"We're trapped but good!" Ukyo growled.

	Shampoo bent down to gently touch the nearly comatose Ranma, then looked up
at Akane in confusion.  "Why he no change?"

	"I don't know!"  Akane pointed at the tigers.  "But it's a pretty good guess
that whatever changed Ryoga and Kuno also has something to do with Ranma's
condition."

--------------

	Yonoko glanced at the two magic wards pinned to the straw doll.  The first
one was 'fear'.  Simple enough.  The second magic ward was 'protection from
insanity' and it was Ebon's cruelly elegant way of ensuring that Saotome
would be absolutely berserk with fear before entering the Neko-ken.

	(Who else would think of using a protective ward to make someone suffer?)
she thought with no small amount of admiration.

--------------

	By now, everyone were bunched up on the front porch, boxed in with nowhere
to go.  The tigers, now standing only six or seven meters away, blocked the
only path of escape.  With a grim expression on her face, Nodoka stood up,
unsheathed her sword, and stepped forward.  But before she could move off the
porch, Shampoo put her hand on Nodoka's wrist to stop her.  

	"Please, is better for Shampoo to fight.  Shampoo is Amazon warrior." 

	Nodoka frowned and said, "Child, it's my duty to...."

	"Shampoo has duty, too, to protect husband."  For once, the other fiancees
didn't shout their objections.  While Nodoka hesitated, the Amazon girl
urgently added, "Also, Shampoo best fighter here and only one strong enough
to hurt monsters."  No boast, but just a simple statement of fact.

	Nodoka looked at her, then after a quick glance at the others girls and the
unconscious Ranma, Ranma's mother bowed her head and silently offered Shampoo
the Saotome family sword.

	The Amazon looked a little startled but then gave Nodoka a quick bow before
taking the weapon.  As she tested the sword's superb balance, Kodachi angrily
hissed, "Why you conniving little tramp!" 

	Shampoo gave Kodachi a chilly stare of contempt, then ignored her as she
spoke to Akane and Ukyo. "Get ready to move Ranma when Shampoo attack."

	Akane said, "Shampoo, you can't!  Kuno and Ryoga...  remember, those
creatures aren't normal.  That sword isn't going to stop them!"

	"Heh."  Shampoo tossed her head.  "Shampoo not stupid.  Shampoo distract
tigers, not fight. Beside, no one else good enough or strong enough to
survive."

	"Damn it!  You may be a pretty good fighter but you still won't survive even
a quick encounter with those things!" Ukyo argued.

 	"Then it is honorable way to die, yes?  Just make sure you no mess up your
part." 

	The eyes of the three girls met in unspoken agreement.  Ukyo and Akane moved
to stand next to Ranma while Shampoo took a deep breath before stepping off
the porch to confront the tigers.

--------------	

	The creatures' musky scent, the scraping of their claws on the paving
stones, the horrible sounds they uttered -- everything about the monsters
plunged Ranma deeper and deeper into an old, pain-filled nightmare.  But this
time, there seemed to be no escape, no comforting oblivion to take away the
fear that was slowly destroying both mind and soul.

	He could sense them moving closer and closer.  They were coming for
him...and for her.  Amid the overwhelming terror and pain that held his mind
in a steely grip, Ranma began to feel a fierce burning rage.  He would be
DAMNED before he would let anyone or anything to take away what he had
hungered for,  needed, for so long -- a home, a sense of belonging,... and
her.  And for the first time in his life, instead of trying to escape or run
away, Ranma willingly reached into the nightmare and embraced it, looking for
the power to defend what was his.

--------------	

	Yonoko watched without surprise as the paper wards pinned to the straw doll
suddenly fluttered.  Their movements became more and more violent just before
the wards and the straw doll went up in a bright flash of flame, leaving only
a small puddle of molten silver and little flecks of black ash in its wake.

	"Now for the hard part."

--------------	

	Akane, Ukyo, and Nodoka gasped as Ranma suddenly rolled to his hands and
knees.  His lowered head and his hair hid the expression in his eyes but
Akane distinctly heard a low, throbbing growl coming from his throat.  Hands
curled as he pulled his bare feet under him in a familiar stance.  The low
growl increased in volume to become a deep roar of challenge.  

	Shampoo turned around at the sound, then hastily dove aside as Ranma leapt
off the porch to confront the two strange males who dared to invade HIS
territory and lay claim to what was HIS.  He bared his teeth and hissed
viciously, one hand raking at the air.  In response, the tigers laid back
their ears and snarled back.

	Akane shivered.  She had seen Ranma in the Neko-ken before but she had never
seen him act so... vicious.  On past occasions, he had certainly been
ferocious but it had always been -- or had quickly become -- a playful sort
of ferocity.  This time, it was abundantly clear that Ranma was NOT feeling
the least bit playful.  

	This time, if Ranma was feeling anything, it was primal hatred.  

	Nodoka grasped Akane's shoulder in a white-knuckled grip and said in a shaky
voice, "Why is my son acting like... like some sort of animal?"	

	Ukyo gulped and sounded a bit sick.  "Is THAT the... Neko-ken?"

	Akane nodded distractedly.  "Yes... I think."

	"What do you mean, 'you think'!?"

	Ranma's mother demanded, "What are you talking about?"

	Without taking her eyes off of Ranma, Akane hastily explained, "Ranma has a
phobia of cats. When his fear of cats becomes too strong, he starts acting
like a cat and using this extremely dangerous martial art called the Neko-ken
or the Cat-fist."  She paused, then added softly, "But something's not
right."

	Shampoo murmured.  "Shampoo notice it too.  Neko-ken different this time.
 It much darker, nastier...."

	Akane muttered. "That's like calling a tsunami a ripple in the ocean."

	The women watched in horrified fascination as Ranma and the tigers slowly
circled each other, watching each other with predatory intensity.  It seemed
to be a sadly uneven battle, a single human against two tigers, each of which
outweighed him by at least four to five times, but Akane and Shampoo knew
better.  

	Ukyo tried stepped forward but was held back by both Akane and Shampoo.
 "We've got to help him!  He can't handle those two huge monsters by
himself!"

	Akane shook her head.  "NO!  It's way too dangerous!"
	
	Ukyo turned on Akane.  "Hey!  If you're SCARED...."
	
	Akane grabbed Ukyo's shoulders and shook her hard.  "Yes, I AM scared!  Do
you have ANY idea what a Neko-ken strike can do?  In this state, Ranma can
rip through steel and rock like paper!  Can you imagine what even an
accidental blow would do a human body!?"

	"Ranma would never...."
	
	"No, he wouldn't if he was in his right mind.  But he's NOT!  Ranma's nearly
berserk with anger right now and there's no telling what he will or won't do.
 And who knows what's going on with Kuno and Ryoga!  If Shampoo didn't stand
a chance against them with a sword, what do you think is going happen to
you?"
	
	"Akane right!  Best stay out of way...unless spatula girl WANT to end up
like chopped cabbage."

	The blue tiger that had once been Tatewaki Kuno attacked first, lunging for
Ranma's throat.  Ranma slashed at it while effortlessly leaping aside.
 Although his hand never touched his opponent, a huge gash opened along the
blue tiger's belly, an injury that would have instantly disembowelled any
normal animal.  However, even as the women watched in dismay, the near
bloodless wound closed and faded away.

	The other tiger, Ryoga, moved in with unnatural speed.  Ranma jumped over it
and used the Neko-ken to mercilessly shred the yellow tiger's exposed back.
 The huge beast roared and gnashed its teeth in pain but the enormous wounds
again quickly disappeared. 

	The pattern repeated itself over and over.  Ranma and the tigers swirled in
an incredibly swift and lethal dance, with stray blows slicing up anything in
the way -- dirt, wood, stone, or metal.  Ranma used his superior speed and
agility to maximum advantage, constantly dodging in and out while using the
Neko-ken to relentlessly slash and tear, but never lingering to grapple with
his much more massive opponents.  He repeatedly struck his opponents but any
wounds suffered by the tigers healed almost instantaneously, no matter how
severe.

	Dragging her eyes away from the battle, Akane took a hasty look around her.
Strangely, Shampoo had a somewhat wistful and pensive expression on her face,
as if she was sensing something undesired but also undeniable.  Nodoka was
grimly stoic.  Ukyo looked almost shell-shocked, and Kodachi.... Akane
shuddered and thought, (Oh no.)  

	Kodachi, almost panting with excitement, was totally fixated on Ranma's
every movement as she watched the fighting with a near-ecstatic gleam in her
eyes.
 
---------------------

	Yonoko watched as the Neko-ken failed to cause any permanent injuries to
Ranma's opponents but she was by no means smug about the current situation.
 Since Saotome was only inflicting purely physical damage at the moment, she
could readily sustain the energy drain needed to keep the tigers' bodies
intact and functioning.  However, Ebon had warned her that worse WOULD come.
 What she was seeing now was nothing compared to the havoc the Neko-ken was
really capable of achieving.  

	The big question was whether Saotome would become desperate enough to reach
for the true power of the Neko-ken.  Yonoko had a feeling that she would have
her answer very soon.

---------------------

	The watching women gasped as the deadlock in the fight suddenly broke. A
concerted attack by both tigers allowed the yellow tiger to rake its claws
along Ranma's left shoulder while the blue tiger sank its fangs into his
right hip.  Ranma managed to tear himself free but at the cost of aggravating
the deep, heavily bleeding wounds.  Slightly dazed and gasping for air, he
backed away to lick at his wounds while staring malevolently at his
opponents.

	"NO!"  Akane took an involuntary step forward as Shampoo let loose a stream
of Chinese obscenities.

	Ukyo snapped, "That does it! I don't care HOW dangerous it is to butt in on
this cat fight!"  

---------------------

	As the tigers drew blood, Yonoko stiffened in anticipation but nothing else
happened.  (It seems that merely injuring Saotome himself isn't going to make
it happen.  Time to raise the stakes.)

---------------------

	The yellow tiger suddenly turned around and began to prowl swiftly toward
the women. 

	Ukyo swore bitterly, then muttered, "Get ready, girls.  I guess it's our
turn."

	Shampoo readied Nodoka's sword while Ukyo pulled out the last of her
throwing spatulas.  Akane gave the door one last hopeless heave, then took up
a defensive stance.  As they spread out on the porch as best they could to
give each other fighting room, Shampoo was forced to elbow an entranced
Kodachi out of her way.

	Akane shouted, "Ryoga, snap out of it!  Ryoga!"  The yellow beast didn't
even hesitate.  It kept on coming.  

	Ranma's head jerked around at the sound of barely controlled desperation in
Akane's voice and instantly moved to intercept the yellow tiger.  The blue
tiger, taking advantage of his distraction, pounced on Ranma and pinned him
to the ground, plunging its claws deep into his back.  Ranma raked at the
ground, leaving long gashes in the paving stones as he tried to free himself.
 The tiger brought all its weight to bear in an effort to subdue its
struggling victim as blood began to pool beneath the young man's body.

	"RANMA!!!" Akane screamed.

	Muscles bunched as the yellow tiger prepared to leap onto the porch.  Akane
braced herself for the impending attack, then flinched as Ranma abruptly let
loose a nerve-wracking scream of utter fury.  Nearby glass panes shattered.
 The blue tiger was hurled aside as a shimmering aura of violet-black energy
suddenly coalesced around Ranma.

---------------------

	Yonoko's eyes gleamed with triumph and she exultantly whispered, "Yes!"

---------------------

-----------------------------------
Part 1d:  A Taste of Things to Come
-----------------------------------

	Akane and the others stared as the battle aura stabilized into the
semi-transparent form of a huge predatory cat that more than matched Ranma's
opponents in size.  Using the battle aura as an extension of his own body,
Ranma casually swatted the charging blue tiger aside, flinging it clear
across the yard, through the far garden wall, and into the road beyond.  

---------------------

	As the blue tiger smashed through the garden wall, one of the figurines on
the table suddenly shattered, sending clay shards flying.  Yonoko gasped in
pain as the shape-shifting and control spells on Kuno abruptly broke but she
refused to allow herself to be become distracted.  She still had another
player on the field.

---------------------

	Ranma then turned and pounced on the yellow tiger, digging the aura's front
'paws' into the creature's flanks and dragging it down before it could
complete its leap at the women.  The tiger attempted to shake Ranma off and
when that failed, it twisted around and futilely tried to sink its teeth and
claws into the battle aura surrounding him.  Ranma responded by slashing at
the yellow tiger's face with a front 'paw' while viciously raking the tiger's
underbelly with his hind 'paws'.  

	Blood splattered everywhere as Ranma's first blow peeled away nearly half
the yellow tiger's face.  This time, the yellow tiger's injuries failed to
heal.  Blinded in one eye and screaming in agony, the beast wrenched itself
free of Ranma's grasp and barely managed to stay on its feet as blackish
blood gushed from the deep gouges on its face and belly.  The tiger tried to
retreat but failed miserably.  The women could only watch, paralyzed and awed
by the power of the battle aura and by Ranma's incredible ferocity as he
relentlessly pursued his quarry, a vicious snarl curling his blood-smeared
lips.  

---------------------

	Yonoko was astonished.  "Even with only one set of spells to maintain, I
can't keep up with Saotome's attacks for much longer!  Ebon warned me but I
still can't BELIEVE how much power Saotome's Neko-ken aura has!"
 
	Trying to cope with the physical damage he inflicted was bad enough but now
Saotome's attacks were directly affecting the life force or chi of his
opponent.  In the face of such an assault, Yonoko wasn't sure why she was
even trying to keep the yellow tiger going.  Now that Saotome had manifested
the greater powers of the Neko-ken, she could have simply allowed the
remaining spells on Ryoga to fade away, but an irresistible curiosity made
her continue the battle.

	Finally, under Ranma's merciless onslaught on the yellow tiger, Yonoko was
forced to let the spells go or endanger her own life.  She made a tossing
gesture and the remaining clay figurine crumbled into fine powder.  Yonoko's
body trembled with exhaustion as the sorceress collapsed to the floor but she
was still more than happy with the events of that morning.  She had
accomplished what she had set out to do.  Saotome was doomed.
 
---------------------

	Down in the Tendo compound, the yellow tiger suddenly uttered an agonized
groan and collapsed into a shrunken, blood-stained heap of fur.

	Ranma paused briefly to look around, warily watching for a renewed attack
from either the fallen yellow tiger or the missing blue tiger.  When it
seemed that both his opponents were truly down, the eerie violet-black aura
wavered and dissipated.  Ranma snarled softly in triumph and bounded forward
to finish off the yellow tiger. 

	Akane suddenly lunged forward but Ukyo grabbed her.  "Akane!  What are you
doing?"
	
	"I've got to stop him!"
	
	"You said yourself that he's ... he's crazy.  That we can't trust him not to
attack us!"
	
	Akane's overwhelming concern at the moment was for Ranma, not for her own
safety, and she answered distractedly, "Yes, but this is different.  He was
in the middle of a fight then but now... I can't let Ranma kill Ryoga in cold
blood!"  She twisted herself free of Ukyo's grasp and carefully made her way
across the gouged and shattered stone walkway.

	"R-r-ran...?"  Akane coughed, then tried again.  "Ranma?"
	
	With his teeth hovering just above the tiger's windpipe, Ranma didn't stop
to look at Akane but merely uttered a distracted, "Rrrrr...."
	
	"Ranma, please!"
	
	He slowly lifted his head and gave her a curious look. "Mrrrrr?"

	Akane edged closer, then, ever so slowly, put her hand on his back.  When he
didn't object to the touch, she put her other hand on his unwounded shoulder
and gently tried to pull him away from his limp victim.  He turned to look at
her with a faint air of annoyance but nothing more.  She tugged a bit harder.

	"Ranma, don't do this.  You've won."  She leaned closer, suppressing her
urge to flinch at the smell of fresh blood clinging to him, and looked deeply
into his feral blue eyes.  Desperately trying to make contact with the man
lost inside, she lightly stroked his bloodstained cheek and murmured, "It's
okay.  He can't hurt you any more."  Knowing that words meant nothing to him,
Akane did her best to soothe him with her touch and the tone of her voice.
 
	With one last malevolent stare at the yellow tiger, Ranma allowed Akane to
pull him away from his prey.  He briefly brushed against her, leaving fresh
smears of blood all over on her legs and clothes, but instead of indulging in
his usual playful and affectionate cat-behavior, he chose to crouch warily at
her feet.  Ranma didn't relax at all, but continuously scanned the area for
other challengers, other opponents.
	
	When the other fiancees and Nodoka saw Akane successfully make contact with
Ranma, they relaxed and took a few tentative steps forward.  Ranma's eyes
narrowed and he hissed softly at them.

	Nodoka paled as her son gave her a cool, aloof cat stare.  Whatever lay
between her and Ranma -- love, fear, whatever -- she knew that she meant
little to the creature now looking out of her son's eyes.  Ukyo and Shampoo
both received a vague acknowledgment of their existence and an indeterminate
throat rumble. Ukyo seemed shaken by Ranma's relative indifference while
Shampoo didn't seem all that surprised. In sharp contrast, Ranma gave Kodachi
a unmistakable warning snarl.

	Akane awkwardly tried to ease the pain she saw in Nodoka's eyes.  "Mrs.
Saotome, Ranma's... not himself... he...."

	Nodoka quietly interrupted her.  "Akane, I know that Ranma cares about me
but I also know that we're still very much strangers to each other."  She
looked away sadly.  "And he doesn't trust me very much.  I guess it just
shows a bit more when he's... like this."

	Akane looked away, saw the yellow tiger and muttered, "Could ... could you
guys check on Ryoga and Kuno?  I'm sort of occupied...."  Akane worriedly
gazed down at Ranma.  At the moment, he seemed content to sit by her feet but
she could sense the tension lingering in his body.  (He's not really calming
down! Anything could set him off again.)
	
	After returning the Saotome sword to Nodoka, Shampoo carefully edged past
Akane and Ranma.  She walked over to the yellow tiger, then suddenly gasped,
bent down, and yanked away a loose flap of tiger skin to expose a naked
Ryoga.  Compared to the terrible wounds inflicted on the tiger, Ryoga was in
comparatively good shape although it was clear that he had suffered a very
severe beating.

	"He ... he still alive!  And not so badly hurt!"
	
	Ukyo blinked and muttered, "That means ... Kuno."  She nudged Kodachi but
when she failed to get any reaction, Ukyo shrugged and hastily headed off
across the yard to the broken wall section.  A brief delay and Ukyo yelled,
"The same thing over here!  But we need an ambulance now!"

	Akane sighed in great relief.  (Kuno's can be such a pain but I certainly
don't want him dead!  And thank goodness Ryoga's alive too.  Ranma would
never have forgiven himself if he had killed either of them, especially under
THESE circumstances.)

---------------------

	Coming back from her usual early morning meeting with several of her
business associates, Nabiki was only a few meters away from the front gate of
the Tendo compound when she saw Mousse hurriedly approaching from the
opposite direction.  

	"Hmmmm.  If he's wearing his glasses, he must be planning a serious fight.
 This may be a good opportunity to get some more combat footage of him."
 People seemed to be endlessly fascinated by Mousse's ability to pull all
those weapons out of nowhere and they were more than willing to play
handsomely for videotapes of his fights.  

	Nabiki hurried to the house in order to get her camcorder.  Walking quickly
through the gateway, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her.
 There were huge splatters of blood and deep gouges on every surface
imaginable, a unconscious and severely battered Ryoga lying naked in a tiger
skin, a group of badly shaken women, a bloodstained Akane, and an even more
bloodstained Ranma crouched at Akane's feet giving Nabiki a VERY dangerous
look.

	"...."  Nabiki couldn't get any words out.

	"N-n-nabiki!" Akane stammered.

	Faced with all the carnage around her and especially the blood covering the
obviously upset Akane, Nabiki's usual icy calm temporarily deserted her.
 "What... what happened!?  Akane, are you all right?  Did Ranma do all this?"
 Nabiki glared accusingly at him.

	Before Akane could say any more, Ranma suddenly started to growl ominously
and stalked forward in Nabiki's direction.  Nabiki automatically retreated
and managed to collide with Mousse who, at that instant, had charged through
the gate yelling,  "Ranma!  I won't let you have Shampoo!" 

	Akane and Shampoo acted in unison.  Akane flung herself in front of Ranma,
blocking his way and screaming, "NO!" while Shampoo lunged in Mousse's
direction and yelled in Chinese, <"Get back!">

	With his inhuman speed, Ranma easily dodged around Akane but the brief delay
was just enough to let Shampoo toss Nabiki aside, tackle Mousse, and heave
him out the gateway into the street.  As soon as Mousse was off the Tendo
property, Ranma halted his charge, probably because of Akane doggedly
clinging to his shoulders.  He contented himself with vicious warning growls
as she firmly wrapped her arms around Ranma, ignoring the blood seeping onto
her clothes and skin.  Akane looked torn between calming Ranma and taking
care of Nabiki who lay in an awkward heap by the walkway wall staring dazedly
up at the cloudless sky.

	Rolling to his feet, Mousse yelled, <"Shampoo!  Why...!?">

	Shampoo stood blocking the gateway and shouted, <"Mousse, stay back!
 Ranma's too angry now to let another male into his territory!">

	Ukyo ran up. "Shampoo, what's going on?"

	Shampoo turned to her and said, "Shampoo tell Mousse that Ranma too angry
now to let other males into territory."

	"'Territory'?  What do you mean, 'territory'!?"  Mousse and the others asked
together.

	Shampoo sighed and said, "Ranma act like male cat.  Male cat no like other
males on territory!"  She turned back to Mousse and investing as much female
authority as she could in her voice, she sternly said, <"Mousse, go back to
the restaurant!">

	<"Shampoo, I'm not going to leave you alone with that... that crazed animal
Saotome!">

	As if in response to Mousse's words, Ranma snarled.  Mousse found he
couldn't suppress a quick shudder of dread.

	<"If you challenge him now, you will die."> Shampoo said flatly.  In quieter
tones, she said, <"Mousse, go back to the Neko-hanten and great grandmother.
 I'll... be along later.">

	He hesitated.

	<"PLEASE.">
	
	Mousse looked extremely reluctant but something Shampoo's manner convinced
him.  He nodded sharply before leaving.

	As she watched Mousse depart, Ukyo asked, "But what about us?" gesturing to
herself and the other women present.

	Shampoo shrugged.  "Ranma only hate male intruders on territory.  Females
not count."

	Akane spoke up from Ranma's side.  "But Ranma's never acted like this
before!"

	Shampoo looked directly at Akane and said softly, "No one ever try to take
life AND Akane away from male Ranma-cat before on Ranma's home turf."

	"What about that stupid ghost cat that you dumped on him?" Akane muttered
irritably.

	Shampoo grinned slightly.  "That different.  Ghost cat is coward and not
serious challenge like Kuno or lost boy."
	
	Ukyo frowned. "How did you come up with this crazy idea, anyway?"

	The Amazon looked a bit flustered but quickly recovered.  "Who better know
how cat think?"  She glared at Ukyo, then suddenly looked away.

	Ukyo slowly shook her head and said quietly, "How a cat thinks....  So this
is the Neko-ken.  Ranma told me about it but to actually see it....  You'd
think that I'd be used to weird stuff like this by now."  She laughed weakly.
 "But I... it's so hard to believe.  He's so...."  She groped for a suitable
word but failed.  "It's not him at all."

	Akane looked up sharply and said in careful tones, "Ukyo, I know what you've
seen today is really disturbing and I know that it may be hard to believe but
this IS Ranma.  He may be acting like a cat at the moment but the Ranma we
know and... we know is still in here,... somewhere."  She gently stroked
Ranma's back as he started to clean his face and hands with long licks of his
tongue.  "Although the Neko-ken isn't normally this... extreme."
	
	Ukyo continued to look somewhat unnerved, but she sighed and shook her head.
"I'll go keep an eye on Kuno until the ambulance arrives."

---------------------

	As Nabiki lay on her back trying to recover from her impact with the walkway
wall, she had come to grips with some unpleasant truths.  She clearly
remembered the sheer terror and helplessness she felt as she watched Ranma
charging toward her with that crazy, predatory rage in his eyes.  She decided
that she didn't like the feelings one bit.  Her lips thinned.  Truthfully,
she HATED them.  There was nothing she could have done to stop him, no way to
negotiate or bargain, no deals to be made....  Oddly enough, she wasn't angry
at Ranma for frightening her.  No, the person she were really angry at was
herself.

	Nabiki sternly berated herself for underestimating Ranma, for failing to
realize how potentially dangerous he could be.  She had been treating Ranma
as a bit of a buffoon, someone strong but not too bright, an easy target for
her little control games.  She had carelessly assumed that Ranma would never
be a danger to herself or the family.  After all, didn't he always put up
with Akane's constant physical and verbal abuse, her own schemes, and the
fathers' constant interference?  But that brief glimpse she saw this morning
brutally reminded her that Ranma was a very powerful, very highly skilled
martial artist who probably wouldn't have any problems taking out the entire
Tendo household and a good portion of Nerima if he really wanted to.  In
fact, it could be considered a minor miracle that something like that hadn't
already happened.

	(Let's face it, Nabiki, you're guilty of sloppy thinking and
self-indulgence. You and everyone else has been relying way too much on
Ranma's good nature.  If Ranma loses control of himself, if something pushes
him over the edge, we can all be in serious trouble.  I've got to find out
what happened this morning.  For our sake,... for Ranma's sake,... I need to
find a way to defuse this whole mess before it really blows up in our faces.)
 
	
	She paused and silently added, (And if worse comes to worst, I've got to be
ready for that, too.)  

	Nabiki saw Shampoo standing over her with a look of concern on her face.
 "So sorry Shampoo throw so hard.  Was emergency."

	"Ughhh...."

---------------------

	Kodachi finally emerged from whatever trance she was in and started to walk
toward Akane and Ranma with a strange smile on her face.  Ranma snarled a
warning but Kodachi continued to approach.  

	"Oh, Ranma darling.  You were... truly MAGNIFICENT."

	Akane attempted to warn her off.  "Kodachi, stay back!  You're upsetting
Ranma!"
	
	The younger Kuno sibling didn't bother to reply but moved even closer.  
	
	"Hsssttttttt...!"  Ranma's hair began to bristle.
	
	"Hey!  Stupid crazy girl!  What you do?" Shampoo shouted, who was occupied
with helping Nabiki to her feet.

	"Kodachi!  What's wrong with you?  Stay away!  Ranma, calm down, please calm
down.  KODACHI!"  Akane stepped in front of Ranma, hoping to keep him from
attacking.

	Kodachi did not appreciate the favor.  "How DARE you bar the path to my
darling Ranma?  Stand aside!"

	"Kodachi, this isn't the time or the place for your crazy games!  You can
get seriously hurt!"

	"You should be worrying about yourself, you stupid girl.  You will suffer
long and hard for your presumption!"  Kodachi pulled out her ribbon and
started to twirl it.

	At the sight of the ribbon, Ranma stiffened and bared his teeth.  Akane bent
down and clung onto his shoulders in an effort to keep him from pouncing on
Kodachi.

	"Keep you hands off of him, you slut!  He's mine!"  Kodachi shrieked.  

	As the Black Rose pulled the ribbon back to strike, Nodoka quickly stepped
forward and grabbed Kodachi by the arm.  In very firm, authoritative tones,
she said, "DON'T."
	
	Kodachi frowned and glared at Nodoka who calmly stared back at her.
	
	While Kodachi was busy trying to stare down Nodoka, Akane thought, (I've got
to do something to bring Ranma out of this before anything else happens.  Who
knows how he'll react to Father or Mr. Saotome?  Ranma has enough problems
with his father when he's in the Neko-ken but with Ranma's unusually
disturbed state....  Oh no, what about Happosai!?)  She frantically scanned
the area for any trace of the old pervert.

	"Nabiki?"

	There was a faint groan.  "Yeah, Akane?"

	"Are you all right?"

	"Yeah, Akane.  Felt better, though."  

	"Can you handle things here?  I've got to get Ranma somewhere quiet!"

	Nabiki leaned a bit on Shampoo and waved her sister off.  "Sure.  The last
thing we need is for Ranma to go running amuck.  Again."

	Akane grabbed Ranma's braid and gently tugged him around the corner of the
house.  Fortunately, he seemed content to follow her.  At the sight of the
koi pond, Akane hesitated briefly.  

	(Should I dunk him into the water and hope that the transformation into his
girl-type snaps him out of the Neko-ken?   No, better not. There's no
guarantee that the change would enough to break the Neko-ken's grip on
Ranma's mind.  And the last thing I want to do is upset or startle him!) 

	"He was ready to kill Ryoga without a second thought. If he runs off,
there's no telling what he might do if provoked!  And if he seriously hurt or
killed someone, he'd never forgive himself."  Visions of tanto blades and
great puddles of blood came to mind.

	Akane had intended to take him to the bathroom but once inside the house,
Ranma dashed down the hall and up the stairs.  As she ran by the front door
in pursuit, Akane could clearly hear a familiar voice just outside the door
saying, "Oh my!"  

	She effortlessly flung the front door open, thinking, (No problem opening it
NOW, of course!) and startled everyone outside.  She hurriedly said, "Kasumi,
Nabiki, make sure everyone stays downstairs until I say it's okay to come up,
all right?  And call an ambulance!"  With those words, she ran up the stairs
to found Ranma tensely prowling around her room.  Closing her door, she sat
down on the floor and softly called to him.

	"Ranma?  Come here.  Come on.  No one wants to fight with you.  Here,
Ranma."  She repeated her coaxing a few more times before he approached.
 After a moment, Ranma lay down, placing his head in her lap.  When her hand
brushed against a blood encrusted spot on his hip, she suddenly remembered
about his injuries.  (I completely forgot about those.)  But her eyes widened
in disbelief as she pulled his clothes aside to take a closer look.
  
	(What!?  They're... they're almost gone!)  Indeed, the deep gashes were now
only faint reddish lines.  (I know Ranma's a fast healer but... but this!
 This is totally unnatural, just like everything ELSE that's happened this
morning!)  She hastily checked Ranma's other injuries and found the same
thing.

	As Akane sat on the floor of her room struggling to make sense of recent
events, she continued to gently stroke Ranma's fine black hair.  It was a
great relief to see Ranma gradually relaxing and she was even more relieved
to hear his quiet purring.  She whispered to herself, "Just this morning, I
was hoping for something to change.  Well, they say you should be careful of
what you wish for because you just might get it."

	Except for Shampoo's apparent acceptance that she would never have Ranma's
heart, things had most definitely changed and NOT for the better. Kuno and
Ryoga were both injured, how badly she didn't know.  Ukyo clearly had
problems dealing with the Neko-ken and Ranma's cat personality.  Kodachi's
obsession with Ranma had only gotten worse, if that was possible.  Mrs.
Saotome now knew that there was still a lot that she didn't know about Ranma
and was also faced with undeniable evidence that the relationship between
mother and son might never be restored to any semblance of normality.

	(And Ranma... something has most definitely changed in Ranma.)  Akane bit
her lip as she struggled to stay calm.  It wasn't easy.

	Looking down at him, she gazed into Ranma's drowsy, half-opened eyes.  There
was still no human awareness, but only a cat's mysterious and inscrutable
gaze.  Akane whispered softly, "Oh, Ranma.  I know you're in there,
somewhere.  Come back.  Come back to me.  Something terrible happened out
there and I need to know that you're okay.  You're really worrying me, you
idiot."  The last words came out more like a caress than an insult.  As if
sensing her distress, Ranma uttered a soft, soothing croon and rubbed his
cheek against her leg, leaving bloody smears on her legs and clothes.

	Akane patiently waited.  In the distance, she could hear the wail of
ambulance sirens come, stop, and go.  A little while longer, she could
another sort of wail, the familiar cry of her father who was no doubt
bemoaning the damage to the house.

	After a hour or so, Ranma finally murmured "Akane....", wrapped his arms
around her waist, nuzzled his face against her stomach, and fell asleep.

	And in the sanctuary of Akane's arms, Ranma drifted off into one last
innocent dream....

(to be continued in Part 2)

-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Author's Notes:

Part 2 is tentatively titled "Breaking the Wild Horse".  ^_-

Additional inspiration from: 
	WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE (and associated materials) by White Wolf
Publishing, Inc.;
	TIGER CLAWS, copyrighted 1991 by Tiger Claws Production, Ltd.; and
	THE HIGHROAD TRILOGY by Alis A. Rasmussen.
		
Additional fanfic mentions:  ^_^
	"Hearts of Ice" by Krista Perry  and "Neko-phobia" by David Eddy for
starting my obsessive interest in the neko-stuff.

Many thanks to my pre-readers for their helpful comments and for their
encouragement!

------------------------------------------
madamhydra@aol.com       /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E