Cat-Scratch Fever, the Bet. Expansion Set
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's
situations/char
stone provided by DragonBard
   i heard Tagan-san was having some trouble
writing this, so i went ahead and added it to my
"to be expanded on" file. it's been added to,
padded out, and may provide a chuckle- which is
all that is really being aimed for here. If
Tagan-san wants to take this in another direction,
or someone has more ideas on what to do here, send
to tagan1@ccaccess.net
----------------------------------------
          "How about this timeline here?" Toltiir
indicated one dull grey strand that turned black
abruptly. An indication that the portion of the
timeline viewed turned dark and nasty.

         "What's the divergence point?" The smith
looked curiously at it. He didn't want to modify a
timeline that actually turned out happily.

         "Looks like its when that Tatewaki Kuno
fellow has gotten his hands on the Wishbringer. A
fourth class magical object capable of granting
Limited Wishes. It certainly qualifies as
divergent..."
------------------------------------------
     "Ranma, have you no shame?!" Akane slid the
door open, glaring at the "couple" within. How far
was he willing to go in order to lose this curse
anyway?

     Genma wept in the hallway. "You sadden your
father, boy..." Genma didn't add that it was
mainly because he wouldn't be able to use the
Wishbringer to end his own curse in a similar
manner.

     "A-ka-ka-kane Tendo," stammered Kuno. Here he
was with one of the two women that he was
pursuing, and lo- the other showed up! No doubt
consumed with jealousy that he should lavish his
attentions on the pigtailed girl.

     "What's SHE got to do with it?!" Ranma looked
up from where she was sitting. Ranma was sure of
it, a little bit longer, she'd get that sword from
him, and then be free of the curse to turn into a
girl!

     Kuno sighed, thinking how jealous Akane was
of the pigtailed girl. "What a pity that my two
loves cannot get along better. Fear not, I shall
date with you later."

     "You wish," said Akane, striking Kuno.

     "What an excellent idea," thought Kuno as he
landed.

     "Stay OUTTA this, Akane!"

     "Are you THAT desperate to stop being a
girl?!" Akane shouted in Ranma's face.

     "I wish that the pigtailed girl and Akane
Tendo would love me forever, forsaking all their
arguing and jealousy!" Kuno, still prone on the
floor raised the sword Wishbringer above him.

     "Your wish is my command."
----------------------------------
     Toltiir blinked. "Well, I'm the expert on
things like that, so let me give that timeline my
official 'Screwed Up Big Time' stamp."

     There was the sound of several Ranma fans
being violently ill as the scene continued. For
their sake, it isn't detailed here.

     "I can see why you would want to change this
one," Hephaestus remarked. "Look, boy type Ranma
isn't under the compulsion but whenever he
changes..."

     "Let's do him a favor and get rid of THIS
timeline, what change did you want to make?"

     The Greek god of smithcraft chuckled.
"Personally? Personally I LIKE Susano-o's entry
over there. Sure, Ranma's dead, but Shampoo gets
Magni and I get a cute okonomiyaki chef...(try
having to deal with Aphrodite for a few years
without really valuing traits like loyalty and
intelligence) but for the purposes of your 'BET',
I'll have to go with this juncture here."
--------------------------------
     Doctor Amano Mizuno was trying a new route
home, something he frequently did, when he saw
what appeared to be a feral child in a gi. While
there were many things one could expect to see in
Japan, feral children were not on that list.

     He blinked as a slightly overweight man came
running after the child, and, his curiosity
piqued, the doctor followed.
---------------------------------
     "Frankly, Mister Saotome, I'd be MUCH happier
if your son was no longer in your custody. Putting
your son through this sort of torture is
inexcusable. Since you HAVE agreed to get him
through treatment, I'm not going through legal
proceedings. We'll try a few different types of
treatment, see what's most effective, and because
we're catching it so early, there is a good chance
of recovery."

     "But will he retain the Cat-fist?" Genma
frowned. If it weren't for the uniformed police
officers, he'd take the child and run. Still, if
the treatment could have Ranma use the Cat-fist
techniques at will instead of only while insane,
this could prove beneficial after all.

     Doctor Mizuno's glasses gleamed dangerously
and a vein could be seen throbbing on his
forehead. "Excuse me. Do I understand you to say
that you value your son learning this particular
technique so much, that you would rather he remain
insane and liable to regress to an animalistic
state at any time than take the chance that the
cure would remove said technique?"

     "Well, when you put it THAT way." Genma
Saotome shut his mouth. He could always try again
if Ranma forgot the technique.
-------------------------------
     Ranma stretched and blinked as his father
went off about yet another training ground. This
one didn't look special at all, being a number of
bamboo poles stuck into a number of springs. Ranma
curled a lip. These were obviously cold water
springs, but the presence of these mists indicated
that there were hot springs elsewhere.

     "Feh, if I need a bath, fatherrrrr, warm
waterrrr would be sooo nice," Ranma grinned at his
father. Balancing exercises against HIM? The old
man wanted to lose, didn't he?

     "You very strange one, no, sir?" The Jusenkyo
Guide looked at Ranma, there was something about
the boy that just seemed to suggest some
not-quite-domesticated animal. There was a sense
of barely restrained wild power and savagery
present. Ranma actually made the Guide nervous.
"This place very dangerous, nobody use now. Is
more than one hundred spring here, and every one
have own terrible tragic legend."

     "Ranma, follow me." Genma leapt to the top of
one of the poles. Ranma was a moment later but a
thousand times more graceful.

     "Oh Sirs! What you doing!" The Guide watched
as Ranma came to a stop over the Spring Of Drowned
Virtuous Man.

     "I won't go easy on you," Genma promised.
Like he ever did. He'd learned long ago that his
son was fully capable of making kitty litter out
of even excellent fighters. WHEN he could be
motivated, that is.

     Ranma grinned and reached within to touch his
feline nature, that spirit which seemed to be a
part of him yet also apart. The Cat purred a
little as it stirred to life.

     The Guide watched as Genma and Ranma launched
towards each other. "Please Sir, Very bad you fall
in spring!"

     Genma landed in a spring with a mighty splash
as Ranma twisted past him in midleap, moving with
feline grace as the other Self began manifesting.

     Ranma idly landed on the top of another pole
and began to clean his hand, bored already.

     The panda caught him largely by surprise, and
he leapt back three sets of poles. Grinning that
the game was not over yet, Ranma launched himself
when the realization penetrated that he was now
fighting a panda.

     The hesitation was enough, and Ranma fell
down.

     "OH NO!" The Guide yelled in anguish. "Not
'Spring Of Drowned Tiger'! Terrible tragic story
of tiger who drown there, 12,500 year ago. Now
whoever fall in spring take body of..."

     The tiger moved out of the spring, black fur
dripping water, green eyes flashing with the
desire for VENGEANCE! It's mouth opened, revealing
LOTS of very sharp teeth to go with the really big
two that were out front.

     "...really big predator," finished the
Jusenkyo Guide at the same time that he remembered
that some Jusenkyo curse victims went a little
crazy upon being cursed. He started sprinting for
the imagined safety of his cabin.

     "Urk?" The panda went dead still as it saw
the tiger looking at it. "Death," promised those
green eyes. "Lots of hurt," promised those sharp
white teeth. "Very bad for YOU that I fall in
spring," announced those razor sharp claws as they
extended.

     Genma realized that the predator looking at
him right now outmassed even a giant panda by
nearly double. He was vaguely aware of the
Jusenkyo Guide's hut door being closed and locked
somewhere behind him. Genma turned to flee.

     By the time that Genma woke up, he realized
that he had a large number of bandages covering
most of his body, had been returned to human, and
there was Ranma in human form who looked VERY
unhappy with him. A vague memory of being batted
around like a ball of yarn by the kitty cat
surfaced.

     "Crrrrrazy old man," Ranma said, getting up
and leaving his father behind.

     "Uhm." Well, Genma admitted to himself. Maybe
The Training Ground of Cursed Springs- Jusenkyo'
hadn't been a good idea after all.
---------------------------------
Eyecatch#1:
            T-chan is being lectured to by an
angry Akane and rolling his eyes. A moment later
he spits P-chan out of his mouth who bounces off
the Ranma 1/2 logo changing it to read "Cat
Scratch Fever." P-chan bounces off screen followed
by Akane chasing after.
            T-chan spits out a few bandanas before
grinning sheepishly at the camera.
---------------------------------
     "Ahhhgggghhhh," Nabiki backpeddled as a HUGE
cat came into the room, followed by a panda a few
moments later. Not that many really noticed the
panda when confronted by the massive predator who
was regarding the occupants of the room with a
clearly curious look. Everyone backed away, even
Akane, as the creature before them sniffed at the
three girls.

     Akane reached over, grabbed the edge of the
table, and brought the table down as hard as she
could over the beast's head while it was examining
a cringing Kasumi. A rather large crack appeared
in the table at the point of impact.

     The tiger glanced back at her with a vaguely
amused glance at Akane, then, quite very
deliberately, licked the face of the eldest Tendo
daughter.

     "Uhhhhgghhh," Akane managed.

     Kasumi started to faint, then looked into the
cat's eyes. "Oh my." She seemed to be seeing
something unexpected in those green depths. Or
maybe it was just the sort of thing that a bird
saw upon looking into the eyes of a large and
hungry cat.

     "You think it's tame?" Nabiki managed as the
welcome realization that she wasn't the Lunch
Special began to register. A sudden image of
herself on a plate with a side order of fries was
banished back to last night's nightmare.

     The tiger stopped his current activity, a
deep rumble that bore some vague resemblence to a
purr while rubbing his cheek against Kasumi's
shoulder, to blink green eyes at Nabiki. Nabiki
went into the same "bird looking into cat's eyes"
freeze as she realized that the cat seemed somehow
to be amused by something.

     "Uhm," Kasumi began, "would you mind letting
me go? I've got to fix supper soon."

     "It's a tiger, Kasumi, it can't..." Nabiki
ran out of words as the tiger backed off of
Kasumi, resuming the basso purring noise as it
rubbed against her once more. "...understand...?!"

     "Quick, Kasumi, run for it! I'll cover you,"
Akane looked around. She needed something heavier
than the dining room table. Martial arts
background to the side, she was WANTING a fully
automatic high caliber weapon.

     "No way," said Nabiki as something clicked.
"I've seen pictures of these but the colors were
all wrong. That's a smilodon!"

     "What's a smilodon?" Akane asked, thinking
that maybe she should get one of the swords out,
or a spear?

     Soun was still a terrified lump and didn't
answer.

     Kasumi brushed herself off, pleased that the
big kittycat hadn't shed on her, and stood up. It
*was* a big kitty cat, and a guest, so she had
duties."Oh my, Mister Smilodon, would you like
some milk?"

     "...but sabretoothed tigers are supposed to
be extinct," Nabiki managed as the big cat nodded
enthusiastically at Kasumi, then followed her into
the kitchen. "...they're certainly not supposed to
be..." Nabiki fainted, her mind having just gone
into overload as she realized that the tiger had
just ANSWERED her big sister.

     The panda was waving around a sign that read
[He LIKES her, now our schools will be joined.]
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your
view, no one was paying attention to the panda
other than to note that the tiger hadn't eaten the
panda either and looked like a much more plentiful
food source than any of them.

     For his part, Ranma just wondered what the
big fuss was about. This one had smelled WONDERFUL
and was obviously the cook. The short haired girl
had REEKED to his sensitive nose of some
artificial scents that she used. The youngest girl
was all sweaty and had an "angry" scent to her.
The father smelled of cigarettes, bleah. He'd
obviously chosen to approach the right person now,
because he was getting FOOD!

     Soun Tendo twitched, looking around the
corner as he watched his eldest daughter pour a
big saucer of milk for their houseguest. Said
houseguest butted her hip with his head, purring
in a deep bass thrum, before beginning the task of
lapping up the milk.

     "AH HA!" Akane had found a sufficiently heavy
object and came running up with her heaviest
dumb-bell, only to be confronted with her elder
sister scratching a VERY contented looking 1300#+
tiger behind one ear. An ear flicking on the tiger
somehow communicated to her: "I know where you
are, what you're planning, and I am NOT
concerned."

     Suddenly the dumb-bell didn't seem nearly
large or satisfying enough...
-----------------------------

     Akane was still shaking a little as she
prepared to use the furo. She'd grabbed a naginata
from the practice weapons, charged into the
kitchen to rescue her sister, and found herself in
just a little over her head. Before she'd known
what was going on, she'd been disarmed, knocked to
the floor, pinned by this colossal furry beast
laying down on her and then it had*licked* her!
Kasumi had coaxed the stupid thing off of her but
she'd felt thoroughly humiliated by the entire
event.

     Not only had she been defeated, but the
stupid animal had treated her like she was an
unruly kitten or something. And *worse* had been
that while pinned and staring up into those eyes
when they'd been poised a few inches away, Akane
realized she had *felt* like an uppity but
helpless kitten.

     Akane slid the door open, deep in thought,
then stepped back as some guy walked past her.

     The feelings she'd had, being held helpless
by that animal, knowing that if it so chose, she'd
lose face in a literal manner was horrifying. That
her sister Kasumi could get the tiger to do almost
anything she wanted it to was another Deep
Thought. How...

            Akane stopped as she lifted the
rinsing bucket. Her mind went into replay mode.
That had been a naked guy. A very well built naked
guy. A very well built naked guy who'd walked past
her. While she was naked. In her own bathroom.
He'd even nodded at her with some cheshire cat
grin as he moved past her.

     Akane lowered the rinsing bucket as she
dropped the matter of large carnivorous beasts for
this new problem. She screamed.
----------------
     "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa!"

           Ranma blinked at the scream, shrugged,
and turned back to the two young ladies. "Anyway,
that's how it is. Sorry if you were freaked out by
it, but the change from one form to another is
triggered by cold water and finding hot water to
change back isn't that easy when you don't have
any hands, y'know?"

          "Oh goodness gracious." Kasumi held a
hand in front of her face. "That's terrible."

          "Yeah, well, could be worse. The worst
one, I think, is that 'Spring of Drowned Carp'
over there. Man, you get hit with that one, you
ain't going nowhere." Ranma chuckled. "And ever
since the Catfist training and Doctor Mizuno's
sessions, I've had a little feline nature to me
anyway."

           "This gets more interesting every
minute," quipped Nabiki. Still, wheels were
turning as she considered the possibilities.
Animal trainers made some heavy money, and she
could see herself as the tiger's "trainer" or
agent relatively easy.

          "Well, no problem, this isn't so
terrible after all." Soun patted the young man on
the shoulder, then backed off a little at the look
in the boy's eyes. He was a little scary.

          "Huh?" Ranma said, reaching for a rice
cracker as that youngest girl went running past
the doorway with her dumb-bell.

          Soun blinked. "That _was_ my youngest
daughter Akane, she's sixteen. This is my eldest
daughter Kasumi, she's nineteen. This is my
youngest daughter, Nabiki, she's seventeen. Pick
any one you want, she'll be your new fiancee!"

          "THERE YOU ARE!"

     Everyone looked over at the doorway where
Akane stood, holding a baseball bat in one hand,
and hurling a dumb-bell at the strange boy who had
dared to sneak into her bathroom.

     Ranma was so surprised by this that he didn't
block it.

     "Oh dear," Kasumi picked up a glass of water,
considered briefly, then tossed it on the
unconscious boy. That she wanted to see the
transformation was at least part of the reason.

     The tiger shook his head as he awoke, then
looked across the room at Akane. That had HURT.
Lips pulled back in a snarl that showed lots of
white teeth. Well, if she were going to act like a
kitten that needed to learn some discipline, then
she could be treated as such.

     "Th-tha-that boy," Akane stammered, her eyes
getting large. "He saw me naked. He, I, he's some
sort of monster!"

     Genma nudged Soun. "I don't think Akane is
the wisest choice here."

     "Too bad. Well, that still leaves Nabiki and
Kasumi." Soun had thought that any of his
daughters really needed someone. Kasumi needed a
life beyond the house. Nabiki needed to fixate on
something besides money. Akane needed to be able
to open up and relate to someone. Still, Soun
could see where this young man's casual laid-back
manner could either open Nabiki's cold mercenary
heart or get Kasumi to consider opening her
horizons a little more.

     Ranma had just started to go over and show
Akane what he thought about being called a monster
when he felt this indescribably delicious
sensation.

     "There, there, T-chan," Kasumi scratched the
tiger behind one ear, noting the rumbling purr and
closing eyes as the tiger began to lean into her
hands. "I'm sure Akane didn't mean to be so mean
to you. You're a good T-chan, aren't you?"

           Nabiki smirked and began stroking the
fur down along the spine of the big cat. "Akane
can be mean and violent, but she doesn't mean
anything by it, Ranma."

     "Urrrrrrrrrrr," said T-chan, who would just
about agree to anything at that point. Dinner
would be ready soon, he was being scratched and
petted. He could come in out of the rain.Yes, this
wasn't a bad place after all.

     "'T-chan'?" Akane looked incredulous and
hefted the bat. She was ready for him this time.

     Kasumi nodded. "T for tiger and chan for
cute!"

     Nabiki privately disagreed with calling the
tiger cute. Handsome perhaps. Striking or
impressive, certainly. A sudden image of little
"UFO Catcher" style dolls of T-chan came to mind
and she grinned. Cute. Merchandising. This could
be interesting. "Well, Daddy. I'd say that Ranma
here couldn't choose one of us right now. He can't
even talk in this form."

     "Urrrr." Heck, he'd take both of  em. Not as
fiancees, maybe, but Ranma considered the two of
these girls to be wonderful material as friends.
Oooo, especially with Nabiki finding that spot
right over the hips. "Urrrrrrrrr!"

     Akane looked at her two sisters, the
pervert/monster, the two fathers and came to an
inescapable conclusion. "You're all sick."

     "Growl," replied T-chan, not particularly
liking the name but deciding to tolerate it for
the moment at least.

     "I'll get you some hot water," said Nabiki
after a few minutes when it became obvious that
Kasumi wasn't going to offer anything of the sort.

     "Oh my," Kasumi realized that the ruff of fur
over T-chan's breastbone was another of those
areas where a little scratching produced a nearly
overwhelming reaction.

     Nabiki poured the hot water on T-chan, and
Ranma stood up.

     "What do you mean calling me a pervert!"
Ranma demanded of Akane. "AND what do you mean a
monster! It's a curse!"

 "You looked at me in the bathroom, you lech!"

 "Hold it! YOU walked in on ME!"

 "It's different when a girl looks at a boy! Lech!
Peeping Tom! Pervert! AND you turn into a monster!
That makes you a pervert AND a monster!"

 "They're already a perfect couple," mused Soun
aloud, proving that he had some pretty weird ideas
about relationships.

 "Whatta ya mean, couple?" Ranma rounded on the
two. "Look, I admit that turning into a tiger is
somethin' I can live with until we find a cure,
but she's calling me a monster for crying out
loud. AND a pervert. Give me one reason I
shouldn't just leave here and go back to China,
and you know I can do it too."

 Genma was under no illusions there. If Ranma
decided to leave, there wasn't much that could
hold him down. Rescue came from an unexpected
source.

 "Please forgive my sister. She's a very sweet
girl, if a violent maniac."

 "Oh GOOD, Kasumi. That makes a LOT of sense."
Nabiki sighed. "The question is how are we going
to feed you if you stay, I'd say that your tiger
form probably can sock away a month's worth of
food at a gulp."

 "Well, if I eat in human form..." Ranma started
to think. "I get by on a lot less food. But I've
noticed I start feeling kinda weak if I don't eat
in tiger form every so often. I could go on
training trips out into the wilderness every so
often. A deer or two ought to do me for meals
then."

 "Camping?" Nabiki thought about it. It had been
quite awhile since they'd done anything like that.
Ever since Akane had gotten lost at Ryugenzawa, in
fact.

 Kasumi smiled. Neither she nor Nabiki
particularly liked "roughing it" but an image came
to mind. Her in her tent, having just used a
little bit of cold water to change her companion
into a great big warm body that could be snuggled
against without it being improper. She could have
her own pet, T-chan, without having to go through
many of the problems normally associated with pet
ownership.

 "Actually, Ranma, if you wouldn't mind," Nabiki
said as if just thinking about this. "I might be
able to find a few ways where we can make enough
money from your curse so that you could pay rent
and cover those food bills."

 "Nabiki, Ranma and his father are guests." Soun's
voice was quiet but carried with it a strong
disapproval.

 "It's okay, Mister Tendo." Ranma decided to
ignore the "little princess" who was back to
glaring at him. "IF I stay here, then I ought to
at least cover my expenses, I s'pose. What'cha got
in mind?"

 "I'll think about it, Ranma, okay?"

 "HEY! Do you expect me to stay under the same
roof as that... that..."

 "You're overreacting, Akane," Nabiki rolled her
eyes. "Just because he's a guy. What'd he do, leer
at you? Make a pass?"

 "Well, no," Akane admitted. "In fact he, er,
kinda actdlkeheddn'trllyntice."

 "I'm sorry, Akane, I didn't catch that."

 "He acted like he didn't really notice," Akane
grumbled and tried to look elsewhere.

 "Oh my. That's terrible." Kasumi sounded
sympathetic.

 "Huh?" Ranma didn't understand this. How could
not looking at this angry tomboy be terrible?

 Nabiki suppressed a grin. She'd been ignored for
so long, at school all the boys wanted the little
princess. Kuno overhearing Akane complain about
the lack of suitable sparring partners had sparked
the morning battles, proving that even good things
often went bad. Now here was someone who just
plain wasn't interested in Akane, and who COULD
potentially be interested in herself. 50-50 odds
on it, and she'd placed bets on odds like that
before.

 The discussion continued but Nabiki didn't pay
much attention, withdrawing into herself in order
to consider the possibilities here. The guy was
mainly a dumb jock, that's all. Just kind of laid
back most of the time, though he could get VERY
nasty if angry, or all cute and fuzzy when he
wanted to be playful.

     Ranma could make Nabiki a LOT of money with
his cursed form. If she walked one path, she
could make a lot of money off his curse by
ruthlessly exploiting and manipulating him. Animal
trainers and their acts made BIG money. Not to
mention what kind of funds she could pull in to
various paleontology groups. If she trapped him
away from hot water, how would anyone know that
the tiger wasn't really a tiger?

     A pure black sabre-tooth, green eyes
glinting, white teeth gleaming. Used as a symbol
for a product, the ad agencies could fork over big
bucks for an image that powerful. Nabiki thought
of the possibilities for one of those off-road
vehicles, call it the Sabretooth or something like
that. Show Ranma's cursed form leaping and running
through the forest. Fast, powerful, capable of
handling anything that nature threw against it.

 Nabiki idly noted that Akane was yelling at Ranma
again, returning to the argument that seeing her
in the nude was equal to him being a pervert and
that he turned into something big and dangerous
meant that he was a monster. Ranma started arguing
back until Akane splashed him with cold water,
giving her the last word. Nabiki thought it likely
that Akane was just feeling flustered, upset, and
had just had her pride dented.

     The REAL problem, Nabiki decided, was to go
for short-term profit and ruin any chance of a
friendship OR put herself in as the fiancee of
choice and as the Agent, make large amounts of
money off her to-be-husband gradually and with a
bit more work?

     She glanced at where Kasumi had just
announced that she needed some things at the
market. Maybe some fresh cut bamboo for the panda.
Extra food was mandated with the tiger in
residence. T-chan somehow got underneath her then
stood, causing her to grip him as if she were
riding a horse.

     The tiger then took Kasumi on a ride to the
market. Nabiki blinked as she realized Kasumi's
squeal had NOT been the expected burst of terror.

 Nabiki and the others sprinted to the street to
watch the big cat and big sister go down the
street at a high rate of speed, bounding over
obstacles.

     Sweet, innocent, housewifely big sister
Kasumi was holding tight as the tiger RAN. The
sound that Nabiki could hear wafting back from the
two was ...laughter?!?

     What do you do when a tiger bigger than most
Japanese cars decides it's a good evening for a
run? Nabiki blinked then answered herself. You get
the heck out of its way...

     Plan C it is, Nabiki decided.Get Kasumi to
marry Ranma, then be the agent/sister-in-law who
kept those huge sums of money coming in.

     Though if big sister didn't play her cards
right, then Nabiki could move in to the vacancy.
She found herself hoping that Kasumi DID fumble
this particular ball.
----------------------------------
     Kuno looked at the beast standing next to
Akane Tendo and wanted a bigger bokken. Or a
daikyu. Or live steel. "Akane Tendo! I shall save
you!"

     The tiger thought this guy HAD to be joking,
right? A sound thwack from the bokken impacting
his skull convinced Ranma this guy didn't have a
clue.

     A casual swipe turned the bokken into thin
slices of wood. The second swipe had retracted
claws but enough force to knock the kendoist back
twelve feet.

     Ranma had already been having a poor day.
Getting splashed on the way to school, growling at
the little old lady who'd splashed him, only to
have the obviously senile old woman start
thwacking him with a rolled up newspaper and
telling him that he was a "bad doggie." Green eyes
glittered as they swept the assembled throng,
causing the crowd that usually attacked Akane
Tendo in the morning to decide they had business
ELSEWHERE!

 "HEY! That was MY fight!" Akane grumbled. Not
that she really wanted to fight all those perverts
but she hated this weirdo butting in. Now people
would think that SHE was weird for being
associated with him.

     Ranma sighed. Why did he have to go to school
anyway? He just wanted a nap, or to chase some
birds or something. Or see what Kasumi had in the
oven. He thought he'd smelled barbeque sauce
simmering on the stove before they'd left. He
licked his chops.

     Unfortunately he was looking directly at
Tatewaki Kuno when he did that. The Blue Thunder's
life passed before his eyes. (He tuned it out
halfway through.) Nonetheless, Kuno was prepared
to go out with a fight. Only to watch dumbfounded
as Akane and the tiger both went into the school,
the tiger growling softly as it did so.

     Odd, the way the growl was pitched,it sounded
similar to the way someone mutters under their
breath.

     "Kuno!"

     Tatewaki Kuno looked up to see Nabiki Tendo
leaning out of one of the windows. "That's my
sister Kasumi's pet, you really shouldn't try to
injure it."

     "Ah," Kuno smiled. "A pet to the sister to
Akane Tendo? Well then, I shall withhold my
righteous anger until later." Besides he had to
take care of pressing business now.

     The Blue Thunder went to change clothes
before class. Lucky he kept a change of underwear
in there.
------------------------------
 The door slammed open.
 "RANMA SAOTOME! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"

 The class looked up as an enraged kendoist stood
in the doorway, once again wearing his kendo garb.

 "YOU ANIMAL! How dare you engage yourself to
Kasumi Tendo as a ruse to pursue the fair Akane?!"

 Ranma blinked. "Huh?" He frowned, realizing he
was saying that a lot lately. Why would he be
pursuing Akane anyway?

 "I KNEW IT! You PERVERT!" Just another guy trying
to get inside her panties, Akane had KNOWN it all
along. This was part of the reason she hated boys,
they were so sneaky and couldn't take a hint and
wouldn't leave her alone.

 Ranma blinked again. "Say what?!" Ranma dodged
the bokken strike that sliced his desk in half.
"This is no place for a fight, Kuno. If you want
to fight, follow me!"

 "And so I shall!" Kuno watched Ranma tumble
overhead then start into a lope once he hit the
hallway. Kuno followed, though it penetrated that
his opponent seemed to have an odd stride that
suggested one who could run for hours before
slowing.

 "This is GREAT!" Sukotto exclaimed, leading the
rest of the class in the chase just behind Akane.

 "Oooo!" Mio exclaimed nearby. "And the winner
gets to date Akane!"

 Unnoticed by anyone, Ranma and Akane both made
faces at that comment.

 "Don't run in the hall!"

 "Yes, Coach!"

 Ranma saw an open window and smirked. "Here's a
shortcut, follow me!" He leapt out the window with
uncanny grace.

 "Fear not!" Kuno exclaimed, jumping out with
somewhat less grace.

 "Hey," yelled Coach Kumida. "We're on the Third
Floor!"

 "No problem," smirked Ranma.

 "Ak!" Kuno summed up his own opinion of the
situation.

 "IDIOT!" Akane said from her position at the
window.

 Sukotto turned to Sanjuro. "Boy, lucky there's a
pool there."

 "Lucky he says. Oh well," grumbled Ranma and
reached for the Cat. He snapped his body into a
roll and twist, and touched down on the side of
the pool, perfectly dry. He stood up, arms proudly
held out. "Ta da!"

 Kuno's splash sent water everywhere.

 Everyone stared at the reappearance of the tiger
that had accompanied Akane earlier.

 "Cool, a werewolf!" Sukotto stared down at the
big, wet, creature that was apparently beseeching
the Heavens with a "why me?" look.

 "Funniest looking werewolf I ever saw."

 "And how many werewolves have you seen? Not
counting the movies, they always get proportions
and stuff wrong."

 "Well..."

 "People, people, if you want answers, you KNOW
who to go to." Nabiki smiled at the crowd. "Five
hundred yen."

 Three hours later, Ranma was getting so tired of
getting splashed with different temperatures of
water that he was ready to bite the next idiot who
thought they just HAD to see the transformation up
close.

 As if on cue, another splash of cold water
occurred and T-chan closed his eyes, counted to
three and turned to give someone a thorough
chewing out.

 "Oh, he IS SO CUTE!"

 T-chan blinked and regarded the small group of
girls with a puzzled expression. 'Cute'?

 "Oooh. I bet you're hungry. Hey, I've got an
extra pork bun!"

 "Oh wow! Hey, you suppose this cutlet
sandwich..."

 "I got some of this mystery meatloaf? You suppose
he can eat that?"

 "I don't think it's meant for HUMAN
consumption..."

 T-chan watched as the table in front of him was
being piled high with food. Maybe this wasn't
entirely bad, after all.

 Kuno stared from across the cafeteria. A
werewolf? Kasumi Tendo had a werewolf for a pet?
This foul cur Saotome would pay for using an
innocent girl's desire for a pet to get close to
the fair flower Akane Tendo. But where was the
Blue Thunder to get a silver bullet in Japan?
------------------------------
much later:
     "Water!" yelled one of the onlookers.
"They've cracked the very earth!"

     "Even worse! It's the water fountain!"

     Ryouga held the umbrella to block the
spraying water, then looked to where his opponent
was landing.

     The low growl being emitted by the ton of
Pleistocene killing machine in front of him was
causing water to dance.

     Green eyes flashed and a single point of
light seemed to dance on one of the long white
fangs hanging down from the cat's jaws.

     "w-w-wait a sec." Ryouga looked at the
monster coming his way. It made the giant boar
he'd faced earlier look about as offensive as a
puppy dog. "Where's.... Ranma?"

     The tiger snarled, somehow communicating
something like: "your move, d' you feel lucky,
punk?"

     "Ra..Ra...Ranma?"

     The tiger didn't answer, merely standing
ready.

     "It's not fair! Do you call that a curse?"
Ryouga began pulling bandanas off, each one
revealing another one on underneath. "Why couldn't
you have a curse that makes you helpless?!"

     Akane turned, "I'll get some hot water! You
can't fight him like that, you'll kill him!"

     "Akane, no!" Nabiki yelled from the tree she
was crouched behind.

     <SNAG!> A black blur moved along the ground,
making leaps that a real sabretooth would have
envied. In its mouth...

     "PUT ME DOWN! YOU ANIMAL! YOU BEAST! DO YOU
HAVE ANY IDEA HOW UNDIGNIFIED THIS LOOKS!"

     Gently dropping Akane on the roof, Ranma
leapt back down and sprinted back to where he'd
last seen Ryouga.

     Nabiki lowered her camera. She doubted that
Ranma had even realized that carrying Akane like
that had given a large section of the audience a
quick glimpse of her panties. She wondered how
much Kuno would pay for THESE shots.
----------------------------
     "C'mon, Ranma, fight me for real!" Akane
looked down at the sabretooth snoozing in the dojo
and wondered how she could get him to spar with
her. She really needed to work out some aggression
right now. She'd splash him with hot water but the
hot water heater seemed to be broken again.

     "Zzzzzzzzzzzz." T-chan's legs kicked out as
his dream self chased a butterfly.

     "Don't fake it, Ranma, I know you're awake."

     "Zzzzzzzzzzzz." He didn't particularly want
to catch that butterfly, it was the chase that was
important.

     Akane leaned over the sleeping tiger. How to
wake him up. Well, he DID have an appetite. "Oh
look, Kasumi's made cookies..."

     <WHAM!> The tiger was out and running before
he'd even fully woken up. Ears flicked back and
forth as he sniffed the air. Cookies? Even
barbarian martial artist sabretooth tigers liked
chocolate chip cookies.

     Disappointed, Ranma let his tail droop. It
had just been a dream. Ranma moved off to sulk.

     Behind him, Akane was lying on the floor,
entertained by all the little birdies flying
around and around her head. Pretty birdies...
----------------
     <click-whirrr>"Aw, don't they make a cute
couple," Nabiki said to her sister as she circled
the two sleeping figures.
<click-whirrr><click-whirrr>

     "Nabiki, it's just not right..." Akane shook
her head. Obviously Kasumi had just fallen asleep
there next to the tiger, and was now laying
half-on, half-off of Ranma's tiger form. It just
struck her as being wrong to let this go on. After
all, Ranma could roll over or something and crush
Kasumi or impale her on one of those long fangs.

     From the tooth-rattlingly deep rumble from
the tiger, he was content. From the peaceful
expression on Kasumi's face she rather enjoyed a
quick nap on a thick fur blanket.

     Nabiki was grinning. Oh yeah, this would be a
part of a professional photo layout. "The Lady &
The Tiger" or something like that. Happy little
yen signs floated past Nabiki as she tried to get
a variety of angles.
<click-whirrr><click-whirrr><click-whirrr>
With some of the other pictures she'd gotten of
the couple (during one of her frequent sabotages
of the hot water heater to make sure there'd be a
tiger in the tank,er, house) this could be a truly
interesting pictorial worthy of international
publication.


     An ear flicked. A flash of green eye tracked
Nabiki briefly. He couldn't move or he'd disturb
Kasumi, and for some reason that was just not
something he wanted to do.He told himself it was
because she was nice to him, he would tolerate
this indignity. Yeah, that was it.

     "Kasumi, this isn't proper behavior," Akane
said in a normal tone of voice, instead of the
previous whispering.

     Kasumi stirred.

     Nabiki and "T-chan" both glared at Akane.

     "Oh, I need to get dinner ready." Kasumi
scratched her T-chan behind one ear briefly before
getting up to go wash up.

     The tiger returned to staring at Akane.
Nabiki merely muttered something under her breath
and went off to wait for a more opportune time.
-----------------
     T-chan was snoozing lightly on the roof when
a gymnast almost tripped over him. Looking up, he
saw the Black Rose for the first time.

     Kodachi wondered what this odd black lump
was, on the Tendo roof, when it abruptly unfolded
itself and stood before her.

     "Ohohoho... oh dear. Uhm. Nice kitty? I DO
have to admire your coloration... Yet I must now
attend to the problem of Akane Tendo."

 "Feh!" The tiger sat, yawned (displaying an
impressive range of sharp cutlery), and seemed to
think for a moment. Some girl carrying a large
mallet was going after Akane? His first impulse
was to chase her off, but every time he interfered
in one of Akane's fights she got mad at him. Nah,
it was probably something that violent girl had
brought on herself anyway.

 Seeing the tiger lay back down, Kodachi noted NOT
to come back this way and proceeded with her
mission.

 A few minutes later, T-chan noted the departure
of the gymnast, followed shortly thereafter by
Akane calling for Kasumi as Akane's room was
filled with black rose petals.

 "Feh!" T-chan repeated. He hadn't realized that
the battle of the mallet wielding women would make
more work for Kasumi. He'd have to remember that
next time he saw the woman.
-----------------------
     "Roguespierre! Roguespierre!"

     T-chan/Ranma turned a long-suffering gaze to
Akane and clearly was asking "Why me?"

     "Umf, umf," Azusa Shiratori kept trying to
pick him up and carry him off. She needed a
forklift. "C'mon, Roguespierre, Azusa's gonna take
you home."

     Ears flicked back. It was clearly a "yeah,
right, what kind of drugs are you on?" look.

     "What a charming pet you have here," Mikado
came sliding up next to Akane.

     Ranma snorted, then "accidently" snarled
Mikado Sanzennin's leg with his tail before
walking off the ice. His big, wide, paws made
gripping the ice fairly easy, and it amused him to
drag this guy with the fruity scent off of Akane.
Feh. He hoped Kasumi would show up soon. SHE would
at least offer to share some hot chocolate.

     And if this guy tried making the moves on
Kasumi, well, he'd make an interesting scratching
post.
-----------------------------------
     Ranma was in boy form again, though deep in
thought. Kasumi AND Nabiki seemed to prefer his
cursed form, which he didn't really mind that
much, but it made a lot of things difficult.

     Akane didn't seem to want much to do with him
in either form. She kept calling him an animal, a
beast, and other things. Pfeh, like he could help
it when he'd grabbed her school uniform in his
teeth, then jumped over that fool Kuno.

     How was he supposed to know that it was an
old uniform? How was he supposed to know that it
would come apart under the strain? How was he to
know that she had some sort of nudity hangup? Such
an uptight girl... Pfeh.

     That Doctor guy, he seemed to have something
for Kasumi, but can you trust a guy that falls
apart like that? Putting his feline instincts away
for a moment (more difficult than it sounded), did
he want to stand in the way of these two getting
together? Could this Doctor Tofu make her happier
than he could?

     Nabiki, well, she had a certain catty aspect
to her. No doubt she would make an interesting
mate, and he'd smelled her excitement on more than
one occasion when there'd been a fight or when
he'd protected her. She just wasn't into snuggling
though, or very affectionate. Ranma's own feline
side was quite openly affectionate.

     Now this amazon girl had shown up, and just
because he'd beaten her in a fight, she was ready
to marry him. Except that someone else wanted to
marry HER, and that person had now kidnapped
Kasumi.

     He'd given Doctor Tofu a half hour lead. This
would decide him. If Doctor Tofu was able to
rescue Kasumi, then he'd simply choose someone
else. The next best cook (an important
consideration) was Shampoo, then Nabiki.

     Ranma checked the time. The half hour was up.
Time to go and see. Of course, if Kasumi was
harmed, he'd have to find this "Mousse" guy and
shred him. Ranma just  hoped he wouldn't get
tagged with water, he wanted to be able to come to
the rescue in his uncursed form for once.
--------------------------------------
where could this go?
Voice Over: Kasumi cursed!
file://scene: Kasumi holding an umbrella over
               her head and wincing.
VO:Akane livid!
file://scene: Akane chasing Shampoo, yelling
               that this is all HER fault.
VO:Tofu acting silly!
file://scene: Tofu dancing around while a
               watching Mousse and bound Kasumi
               both bigsweat.
VO:Mousse jealous!
file://scene: Mousse looking confused as Tofu
               dances by.
VO:Shampoo affectionate?
file://scene: Shampoo turns and kisses Akane,
               who immediately starts choking.
VO:Ranma ready to marry Kasumi,
       even if she does turn into...
file://scene:Ranma in a tuxedo next to a big
              question mark.
VO:Ranma dodging water bombs from
       various assorted Jusenkyo springs.
file://scene:Ranma, still in tuxedo, dodging
              like he really doesn't want to get
wet.
VO: And what of the okonomiyaki chef? Will
        she find Ranma's sensual and affectionate
        feline nature a turn off?
file://scene: Ukyou scribbles something on her big
        spatula then turns it to the camera so
that
        you can read [A sensual and affectionate
Ranma
        is a turnoff? You've GOT to be kidding!]
VO: And what of the dread dark master of the
        Anything Goes School? Will he put
        sabretooth tigers back on the extinct list
        or will the cat drag something out?
file://scene: a dark mountain in China, lightning
        flares in the background.

     Other than that, I've thrown
enough hints in the story. What do
YOU think happens?

Ending animation: "Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray
Cats, with a few changes.
Scene: full moon in background, block walls and
houses.
"Ooooh Oooh Ooooh Ooooh
"Black furred stray cat sittin' on a fence."
             T-chan leaps up and starts strutting
proudly along atop the fence.
"Ain't got enough dough to pay the rent."
             Nabiki is counting money as the tiger
passes behind her.
"I'm flat broke but I don't care,
"I strut right by with my tail in the air.

"Stray Cat Strut, I'm a ladies man,"
             Passes a group of Chinese Amazon
huntresses,
"A feline Cassanova...
   Mousse and Ryouga on the street
Mousse & Ryouga: "Hey man, that's sad."
"Get insults thrown at me from my mean old man,"
             Passes Genma-panda who's waving signs
around.
"Get my dinner any way that I can..."
             Brief flash to a scene of T-chan
cuddling with Kasumi.
             Goes back to the fences, where he
uses Kuno's head as a springboard to cross the
street.
"Yeah, don't cross my path, now."

"I don't bother chasin' mice around,
 I slink down the alley, lookin' for a fight,
 Howlin' to the moonlight, on a hot summer night!"

              Comes to a spot of fence where
T-chan sits down and sways back and forth to the
beat, eyes closed and grinning.

"Singing the blues while the lady cats cry,
 Wild stray cat, you're a real cool guy,
 I know you can be just as carefree and wild,
 Cause WE got cat-class and we've got cat style!"

                   Camera pulls back revealing
Nabiki, Shampoo, Kasumi, Ukyou, small group of
Amazons, Cologne, Kodachi, and to the sides Akane,
Genma, Soun, Tatewaki, Tsubasa, the Big Game
Hunters, and Nodoka Saotome.





ja ne,
gregg
=============================================
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
metroanime@mindspring.com
"still searching, still dreaming, still alone."