"Come on, at least talk to me?", Mowgli pleaded to Shanti. Unable to speak, she pointed to something behind Mowgli. He dully followed her finger and gasped.

In a dark, hollow rock fifteen feet away, there was a pair of eyes. Yellow, angry, eyes.

"You seem surprised to see me, mancub", said Shere Khan as he emerged from the shadows. "I can't imagine why. I wasn't going to let you get away, after what you did to me."

As he spoke, Shere Khan circled around his prey, curious to see how the mancub would react. Interestingly, Mowgli stood his ground. It seemed he was trying to protect the two other humans from him. Shere Khan chuckled to himself. Mowgli was putting on a brave front, but it was laughably weak. One good pounce would cause it to shatter. He took a small step towards Mowgli and was gratified to see the mancub tremble in fear. How delicious revenge felt!

"You see", Shere Khan went on, "you humiliated me, mancub. Surely you do realize I simply can't let you live."

At those last words, the full extent of the danger hit Mowgli. He pushed Shanti and Ranjan away. "Run!", he urged them. They obliged, leaving Mowgli alone with his enemy.

The boy knew this was very bad. There was no one to save him this time. No Baloo, no vultures, no fire. Just a murderous, four-hundred pound tiger and his skinny, weaponless, self. He could try calling for help, of course, but that would immediately cause Shere Khan to attack. The best thing he could do was to slowly gather some dirt, throw it in Shere Khan's eyes, and then run for his life.

But it was too late. As his fingers scrapped the ground, Shere Khan struck.

Mowgli promptly tossed the dirt in his hand. His aim was true, but it couldn't stop the tiger's momentum. With a mighty roar, Shere Khan plowed into Mowgli and pinned him to the ground. The boy desperately tried to wriggle free, but Shere Khan placed his front paws squarely on his chest, making escape impossible.

"No escape this time, Mowgli", snarled the tiger, determined to drive home his superiority.

"Baloo, help!" replied Mowgli, the words coming out in a whisper.

"Mowgli, no!" cried another human voice. Mildly intrigued, Shere Khan looked up to see Shanti running towards him, holding a stick. "You monster!" she yelled. "Get away from him!" She began beating his head with the crude weapon.

The tiger glared at her contemptuously. A swat of his paw, and Shanti was sent crashing against a tree.

"Any last words, mancub?", the predator asked. But Mowgli didn't answer. The enormous weight of the tiger's front paws on his chest had driven his ribs into his heart.

Shere Khan growled. He wanted to hear Mowgli beg before finishing him off. "I said: any last words, mancub?"

Still no response. The tiger narrowed his eyes in confusion. He got off Mowgli and prodded him a bit. When the body fell limply, he realized the truth. "Dead", he remarked nonchalantly. "What a pity. It must have been the fear."

Ignoring Shanti and Ranjan, who were screaming for help, he brought his jaw down to Mowgli's chest. Before he could start eating, however, he sniffed the air, having caught a familiar scent. It was that infernal bear. He must have heard the children's calls for help. Well, let the big oaf come. Shere Khan would deal with him just as easily as he had last time. In the meantime...

The tiger turned his attention to Mowgli and settled down to a long-awaited meal.