He's breaking the rules, here. Supernatural evil in a story works on cause
and effect. Cause: mortals do something. Effect: supernatural forces,
called, respond.

	I thought it was your standard deal-with-the-devil kinda thing.
True, Akane thought she was dealing with her sister, but this kind of
trickery is fairly common in many mythologies.

	The why, I think, may be implicitly borrowed from _Hearts of Ice_;
the Shadowcat draws some benefit from Ranma's entrapment in the nekoken.
Whatever rules bind those of the Kami Plane, though, prevent him from
taking action on his own. Thus, he tricks Akane into allowing it.

	As Akane is also a strong fighter, her neko-ization was a side
benefit. One wonders, furthermore, about their offspring, but I won't take
that thought any further.

_________________________________________________________________________
Patrick Mcclanahan

pwm5@cornell.edu