I do not own Ranma, Sailor moon, Tenchi Muyo, the X-men, Samurai-Deeper Kyo or any of the ideas and concepts taken from the aforementioned sources. This story is written in no way for profit, merely the enjoyment of the author and those who would read his works. Please keep criticism constructive. If you do not like it then do not read it. Thanks. Please enjoy.

Ranma Saotome stepped from the train carriage and raised his umbrella to stave off the few drops of rain still falling from the sky. The speakers overhead proudly announced the arrival to Tokyo's Juuban Ward of the early evening shuttle from Nerima. He was forced to move swiftly to avoid being trampled by the stampede of salary-men and commuters as they swarmed around him. He cradled his precious cargo to his chest protectively as he was jostled by uncaring elbows and unconsciously used his shoulder muscles to adjust the heavily-overloaded backpack he also bore.

Glaring at the bodies surrounding him, Ranma turned his gaze to scan the platform. His mother had promised that a friend of hers would be waiting for him upon his arrival and while he was disappointed that she couldn't be there to greet him, he understood that she had obligations to her work. Apparently she had been working in a local jewellery store for the past three years and the owner was still recovering from a recent bout of the flu. He had been surprised to find out his mom had a job (she hadn't mentioned it at all during those few precious moments they had spent together over the last couple of months) but, he supposed, it made a lot of sense. The Saotomes may have been the descendants of a prestigious samurai clan but unlike the Kunos his clan had long since frivolously spent their wealth. In any case, without his father around to earn a living and provide for his spouse, then it was likely that she had had little choice in the matter.

'Still!', thought Ranma happily, 'It shows that she isn't useless like the Oyaji!'

The crowds were starting to disperse a little by this point but still Ranma had not managed to catch a glimpse of anyone who matched the description his mom had given him. If truth be told he was even starting to get a little anxious. The slight drizzle around him was slowly but surely starting to intensify. Rain drops pattered intermittently against the plastic of his umbrella. The weather could only get worse and Ranma had two reasons for not wanting to be caught out in a downpour. Surprisingly neither was because he despised the thought of turning into a girl. No, he only feared that his mother had forgotten to inform whoever was picking him up that he actually had a girl form. It wouldn't do for the woman to pass him by because of a little thing like him being the wrong gender. Secondly, and more importantly, Ranma had to take into account the welfare of his charge. He took a moment to check on the bundle resting in the crook of his arm and smiled. Being out in the rain wouldn't be good for the little one's health after all. The lights from a building nearby reflected from the many sparkling faces of the object he held to his breast. It seemed to pulse warmly and Ranma felt a wave of contentment suffuse his being. The little one felt his concern and was able to communicate it's own feelings to him after a fashion. He sent a pulse of warm ki into his aura, directing it into the blankets, reheating them until they began to radiate a comforting warmth. It was a technique similar to his rival, Ryoga's, iron cloth technique that he had devised on a spur of the moment and he was pleased with the results. Satisfied that his charge was as comfortable as he could make it, considering the circumstances, he turned his attention back to the platform and allowed his mind to wander. Things had changed so much in so little time.

(XXX)

Ranma stared down at the multi-faceted crystal orb that had until not an hour before been the most deadly and dangerous foe he had ever faced. He stared down at his hands. They were still shaking, from adrenaline or sorrow he couldn't tell. Up until an hour ago he had been Ranma Saotome, martial artist extraordinaire and heir to the Saotome Musabetsu Kakutō Ryu. But now who was he? Ranma the warrior? Ranma the murderer? Ranma the avenger?

He remembered the tearing in his heart as Saffron, the Immortal Pheonix god had met his skill with overwhelming power and brushed aside everything he had thrown at him. Ki attacks, special techniques, even plain old brute force, all injuries had disappeared almost as soon as he had inflicted them, regenerating in a flash of fire. All the while his fiancee Akane had been slowly dying, transformed into a doll-like state during the course of Saffron's ritual designed to allow him attain his adult form. Akane's life draining away second by second he had been forced to employ a desperation maneuver, utilizing the extreme environment created by the magical ice stave, Gekkaja, and the fiery god's powers. The ensuing technique, the 'Hiryu Hyo Toppa', had created an icy tornado compressed to provide pinpoint accuracy. Ranma, in his desperation had gone straight for the heart. The ensuing attack had drilled relentlessly into Saffron's chest, creating a layer of unbreakable ice that spread with unbelievable speed to encase the the winged monarch in it's chilling embrace. Even as he had torn after Akane and restored her to her natural form, Ranma had heard the death song of his opponent and felt the emptiness creeping into his soul.

But Saffron was not truly dead. The body had quickly dissolved into ash in a flash of fire and coalesced into a beautiful jewelled egg, even as the cadaver had fallen from the sky. Ranma had stared, not even daring to hope, as Kiima explained that Saffron would be reborn again, in time. He had seen her reach for her charge and then, setting Akane down by the ruins of Jusenkyo, had interposed himself between them. He had ignored Kiima's protests. He had ignored the stunned look on Akane's face as he left her side. He had ignored the enquires of Shampoo and Moose, the ragings of his father and even the bellowed insults of Ryoga. At that moment none of it had mattered as he had let his eyes rest on his slumbering foe.

"Ranma?"

He felt a gentle tug on the tatters of his shirt and tore himself from his reminiscing, turning to look into the Akane's concerned chocolate orbs. He smiled at her gently.

"No"

The words had spilled from his lips before he even realised he was speaking. He watched as Akane's look of concern faded into one of confusion.

"No?", she asked, perplexed.

He nodded.

"No."

He whirled around abruptly to face his former enemy's guardian. Kiima was beautiful, there was no denying that, in a predatory,don't-turn-your-back-on-me-or-I will-rip-you-to-shreds kind of way. He really hadn't had the time to appreciate that little fact however, what with all the fighting and running and life-threatening situations. What really drew his attention was the scowl she wore on her face, the way the lips twisted into a sneer. The way her eyes glinted, hawk-like and calculating. He didn't need to rely on his ki senses to know there was anger there, hidden behind her haughty facade. It would reside within her soul like a cancer and over time he had no doubt that, like a cancer, her anger would spread to consume her, fanned by her resentment of him and the deeds he had done that day. She was holding out her arms for her Lord expectantly. Her hands, instead of the hands of a human, were like the talons of a raptor and Ranma could see the promise of death glinting in their dark claws.

He felt his own rage well up inside him once more, stoked by the unfairness of the situation. How he would love to return home to Nerima as if nothing had happened. It would be so easy just to write this whole affair off as yet another one of his crazy adventures, forgive his rivals and tramp back to the chaos that was his life. But it was a luxury he could no longer afford. This time he had been lucky. The conditions had been exactly right for him to pull off an impossible victory. But what of next time... and the time after that... and the time after that. It was time to break the cycle. Time to reign in the waves of discord that surrounded him and subdue them. He watched, with a reasonable amount of satisfaction, as Kiima shied away from him violently as his aura flared up around him once more. Her disdain of him and the contempt she held for all 'landlings' unable to disguise her fearful reaction. It burned a deep dark crimson that flickered ominously, the promise of future pain and retribution clear to all those present.

It took her a moment to regain her composure, although her feathers still seemed a little ruffled."Saotome Ranma pass me the Lord Saffron. I will take him home." she said, a touch of that same arrogance she had held when he first met her returning to her voice.

"No chance Kiima.", he smirked at her, the smirk that melted hearts and fanned grudges.

Her scowl returned "This is not a joke Saotome, nor was it a request! Hand over my Lord now and vacate His lands or face the consequences", Her talons were twitching now, aching to draw her blade from where it hung at her waist. Ranma could seem her right 'hand' shifting ever so slowly now... 'just a bit more'... he could almost hear her thinking...' just a little more'...

"Threats Kiima?", he chuckled, "Really? You want to threaten me now after I just tore apart the God of your people?"

"Ranma!", Akane joined the conversation, her voice weak and exhausted, "Just give her the egg Ranma and we can go home!"

"Not a chance Akane!", he said, not even daring to looking at her, knowing that, with just one peek at her pale countenance and shaking limbs, he would cave. No, he kept his eyes on the phoenix girl and bled his reserves dry to keep standing strong. It was the only way. The circle must be broken. "Look at her Akane! Look at her! She isn't gonna teach the brat any different than before. Come three or four years from now that brat will be searching for sacrifices, terrorising families, not to mention killing and enslaving the locals."

Kiima let out a squawk of indigntion but Ranma refused to give her another chance to interject. Every moment was precious. He was fading fast and his aura was running on fumes. The Phoenix tribe respected strength, to falter would mean to fail. As far as Ranma was concerned it didn't matter that Saffron had been reborn. The god or demigod, as he had been, was gone and that was enough for him. In every sense of the word, Saffron had perished with his final strike and it was up to him, the god-slayer, to save his 'son' from the same fate.

He squared his shoulders defiantly and stared menacingly at everyone present.

"The brat's coming with me"

Silence reigned... for about thirty seconds and then all hell broke loose.

(XXX)

Ranma cringed as he thought back to that confrontation. Standing firm in the face of everyones' arguments. Their threats and wheedling attempts to get him to reason had been exhausting and even more of a task than staring down Kiima. In the end it was the backing of the Musk Prince, Herb, one of Ranma's former foes which had settled the matter. Having detected the massive energies at work earlier, the dragon-lord had made his way to the scene of the conflict as swiftly as he could, with a contingent of his best warriors including Lime and Mint, two more Musk of Ranma's acquaintance.

In the aftermath of Ranma and Herb's own duel the two martial artists had settled their differences and gone their separate ways on good terms. Upon seeing the greatest accomplishment to date of his one-time rival and an opportunity to expand his own powerbase, Herb had readily threatened war if the Phoenix tribe refused to honor Ranma's demands. Without Saffron's protection the Phoenix people were no longer an invincible force. Starved of his powers they too were now mortal and no longer represented even half the threat they had once been. On the other hand, Herb had offered, should the Phoenix leave the upbringing of their god to the mortal hands of Ranma Saotome then he, the Prince of the Musk Dynasty, would ensure the Phoenix tribe's safety from the prospect of an Amazon counter-attack (a likely response for the crime perpetuated by the Phoenix tribe for assaulting and brainwashing one of their own - now that Saffron was out of the picture at least). He had even offered Kiima his bodyguards to act as hostages to ensure Saffron's well-being. Ranma chuckled even as he leaned back to avoid a stream of water from an over-head gutter. Lime and Mint had been overjoyed at their new assignment. A chance to properly study women (even if they were Phoenix-girls) and maybe even grope one had meant every Musk soldier had been bouncing up and down with eagerness as Herb selected his chosen.

'Probably think they've been promoted or something", Ranma thought.

Suddenly, on the edge of his vision he caught a sudden hint of green as it sashayed it's way towards him through the crowd and Ranma let loose a breath he didn't know he had been holding. This must be his mother's friend. She had warned him that Ms Meiou's coloring was a little unorthodox for a pure-blooded Japanese woman (a little rich coming from a woman whose own son sported crystal-blue eyes and gorgeous, flowing scarlet locks when his curse was activated) but when she finally stopped in front of him, smiling enigmatically, he realised his mother's observations had not done the woman justice.

The first thing he noticed was her hair. It was a deep vibrant green which flowed down to the small of her back and swayed with her as she walked. Her face was beautiful, with an ageless quality to it that made it hard to define just how old she was and her eyes shone like purest rubies, complemented by her darker skin tone. She was extraordinarily attractive, in a regal sort of way, and the way she walked, the confidence she exuded, made it very clear that she was well aware of the fact. She wore a designer cut woman's business suit, dyed a gentle purple with a white silk blouse beneath and a delicate red bow at her throat. The suit skirt was cut short, but not indecently so, showing off her toned and tanned long legs, with equally designer heels to finish the ensemble. All this just helped to accentuate her beauty further and for the first time even Ranma found himself at a loss for words.

"Ranma Saotome I presume?", she asked, her lips still set in that knowing little smile.

"U-umm yeah that's me... it's Ms Meiou right", he replied as he found his senses again.

If possible her smile seemed to get even more knowing and alluring, "Oh my? What's the matter Ranma-san?", she asked as a little giggle seemed to escape her, under her breath. "You're Mother, Nodoka-chan did tell you to expect me, correct?"

He nodded vigorously in reply, not trusting himself to speak in case the legendary Saotome curse to 'foot-in-mouth' decided to make an appearance.

"That's good!", she winked and gestured that he should walk beside her.

"Please call me Setsuna, no need to stand on ceremony. Nodoka-chan is a close friend after all. Now what do you say we leave this dreary place and get out of the cold. Can I take anything for you Ranma-san?"

Carefully he fell into step at her side, and waved off any attempts at trying to ease his burden. So distracted was he by his new acquaintance's glamour that he almost missed the oppressive feeling gathering in the air. There was the sound of a crash, followed by terrified screams as population of the station realised something was very, very wrong. Before he knew it his feet were moving and suddenly there was no time to think anymore.

(XXX)

The daimon egg writhed with unholy delight as it sensed it's target approaching. It was a prototype, the first of it's kind and it's task... a spur of the moment test by it's creator. As a matter of fact the main wave of attacks were due to begin in the next couple of weeks. However the Mistress had decided that a little taste of what was to come was in order for the people of Earth. If it hadn't been an evil construct with little-to-no sentience then the daimon might actually have felt sorry for the young woman. She was one Himiko Takahata, an aspiring piano teacher and mother of two and she had no idea what was about to happen to her. The diabolical creation watched and waited as she came closer, nestled within the very vending machine that she visited each evening on her way home from work. When she finally stopped before the machine and fumbled in her pocket for change, her eyes grew wide with horror as the daimon egg within sensed that the moment had come and activated. Twisting, screeching, and flickering with coruscating energies, the daimon egg warped the structure of it's hiding place until it settled on a form that was vaguely female, about 7 feet tall, with cruel, razor-sharp claws and a black star cresting it's ill-shaped brow.

With a roar of triumph, the newly released daimon gave an evil, steel-coloured grin and let loose its opening attack. "Vending!", it screamed as a beam of black light lanced from the star-shaped marking, crackling with a sickening, evil power, and struck the poor woman right through the heart.

Or at least it would have but for the pair of slippered feet impacting against the side of it's head with bone-crushing force. The impact threw off it's aim, sending the energy wide to disperse harmlessly against a support beam,allowing it's screaming prey to scramble away unharmed. Spinning around, fury burning in it's 'eyes', the daimon let our a scream of rage as it laid glared at the miserable bag of flesh that had dared interrupt it's mission and embarrass it in it's mistress's eyes. Vowing to teach the meddling human a lesson for it's interference, the daimon launched itself at it's new target, planning on cutting it him in half with a single blow.

(XXX)

Ranma dodged the first wild swipe from the hulking monstrosity and cursed his luck under his breath. It really wasn't fair. He had made his way to the Juuban ward to spend some quality time with his mother for the first time in months. He had, mistakenly, assumed that such a change of scene would, at last, allow him a short reprieve from the chaos that was his life. Unfortunately he had heard the screams, seen the monster and his body had responded before his mind had had a chance to weigh the pros and cons of his actions. He muttered yet another curse and wondered again at how he always seemed to find himself in such a dangerous situations.

Ranma leaned backwards to allow the follow-up metallic backhand to breeze by him and blocked the next punch with a round-house kick to gauge the monster's strength. His eyes narrowed. While nothing to write home about for a world-class martial artist such as himself, a single blow from this creature would be able to seriously injure the average member of the public. In fact he would place it somewhere between Akane and Shampoo in terms of strength. Leaping over and attempted bear-hug, he used the creature's head as a springboard to land another blow to the side of, what he assumed to be, it's head with an audible clang. As it clattered to the ground in an ungraceful heap he sped backwards to gain a little breathing space and took the moment while it recovered to review his options. He could currently only use his legs to fight, both his arms being occupied by a phoenix egg and umbrella respectively. He was surrounded by members of the public, whose chances of being seriously injured were only increasing should the fight be drawn out much longer. Finally, he had no idea what this misshapen mass was, nor what it wanted, and, by the speed at which it was recovering, it seem highly resistant to physical attacks.

"Die!"

He flinched as a voice that sounded like rocks in a blender echoed from the daimon and in his surprise only narrowly missed being disemboweled as it launched what appeared to be, razor-sharp, crushed drink cans in his direction. Ducking and weaving through the hail of speeding projectiles that followed could not have been more easy for someone who had graduated from the Genma Saotome school of hard knocks. But how could he finish off the creature quickly? As his body fell into a familiar pattern, words sprung unbidden from his lips, forged after many years of study under the master to be some of the most devastating weapons in his arsenal.

(XXX)

"Man I know panda's who're faster than you!"

" A bit more to the left, a bit more to the left, there you go... oops, no, you still missed"

"I'd recommend going to see the doc about those eyes of yours but I don't think they make glasses in the size of extra ugly!"

The Daimon screamed in frustration. How dare the human insult her. Could it not see the delicate way the light sparkled off her metallic skin? Was it blind to the noble slope of her brow? Her heaving cubic bosom? Her shots became wilder and wilder in response and she tore up the ground as she tried to stomp her frustration away at being unable to hit the uncivilised, disgusting little monkey. Then it happened.

Now one might say that daimon's possess very little in the way of intelligence and, on the whole, they would be right. They were really just mindless constructs designed for two simple and straightforward tasks: the removal of heart crystals from their hosts and the retrieval of the talismans within if they were located during their hunt. And yet... And yet sometimes there was something more. A spark of personality. A rudimentary predatory mindset for exploiting the weaknesses of prey.

It barely noticed one of it's projectiles fly even wider than usual, nor did it really pay much attention to the wailing little girl-child about to be impaled by the item. Then in a blur of red and black, her intended target was there, deflecting it into the air and inflicting a large gash on it's foot in the process. The insults had stopped. The boy wasn't smiling anymore. Elated by it's success the daimon repeated the process, firing again and again into the retreating masses and again and again, the boy sped into the path of danger, taking small amounts of damage in the process. An evil smirk twisted onto her face with a squeak of tortured metal. The star on her brow began to glow with a sickly, black light once more.

(XXX)

'This can't be happening! This can't be happening! This can't be happening!"

This was what was running through the Princess of Pluto's mind as she fought against the crowd, who were pushing her back in their panic to retreat from the ensuing combat. From what she could see Ranma appeared to be holding his own, if barely, but he was heavily handicapped, limiting himself because of her presence (not wanting to change into his female form) and whatever he seemed to be holding to his chest.

She needed to find somewhere to hide so she could transform or people would most definitely die. But that wasn't what was so terrifying. No, what was currently causing her such distress was that she hadn't known! She had assumed that the first attacks would occur on schedule in a couple of weeks time. It would be the first time Uranus and Neptune would awaken and discover one another. It would be the first time the Outers would take an active role in the Inners lives. No! There was a greater power at work here. It would take a phenomenal, almost godly, power to alter the time-stream without alerting her, it's guardian.

She finally made her way to an abandoned snack shack and ducked inside. Within moments, Sailor Pluto replaced Setsuna Meio in all her glory and she darted from the stand with a graceful leap that sent her soaring towards the enemy.

Just in time to see Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome Musabetsu Kakutō Ryu, fall, eyes lifeless as a bolt of obsidian black drilled through his heart. A chill spread throughout her as she watched his skin turn grey and lifeless, a huge blaze of gold erupted from his chest and a cry of despair erupted from within her as she watched a second beam of darkness strike the half-formed heart crystal with an audible crack. Not waiting to see the results of the attack and unable to do so due to the half-formed tears blurring her vision, Pluto launched her own furious attack.

"Dead Scream! Dead Scream!"

(XXX)

The white surrounded him. Cold, it was so cold. He could feel the warmth nearby but it was draining away, leaving an empty void that couldn't be filled no matter how hard he tried. He looked down and saw his hands were pale and translucent. He stared at them in fascination. Then he saw the stream of light extending from his chest, flowing away from him towards the cold. Desperate, he tried to reach within himself, to call upon his life force as he had done so many times before but he couldn't feel... anything! There wasn't much left, he knew. The light represented his ki, he realised that now and it was nearly all gone.

Ghostly pale tears ran down his see-through cheeks and he let loose the emotions that he had kept so contained in life. It had been another young child, a boy, no older than 7 of 8. That monster had shot some wierd ki attack and he had, of course, leaped to deflect it. Throwing his umbrella up in the air he had focused his confidence to make a counter-blast. Maybe it had been his situation. His confidence had not been at it's peak throughout the fight. Maybe his concern for little Saffron and the bystanders had affected his control. Either way, the weak moko takabisha he had thrown in reply had been torn apart like wet tissue paper. The darkness had claimed him as the unimaginable pain had hit him in the chest and then something even more painful, like a limb being torn from it's socket as something struck him again. And then he had found himself here.

Alone and cold. It was like his worst nightmares brought to life. It reminded him of the pit, when those creatures had torn his very sanity to shreds, of the beatings inflicted by his father and the nights he went to sleep without either a blanket or food for comfort. It reminded him of when Ukyou had been left behind, the next day when he had realised that he wouldn't be seeing his friend anymore. Of the night of Akane's greatest betrayal...

He fell to his knees and clawed desperately at the light streaming from his body, his sobs becoming even louder and more desperate, echoing through the empty white.

"Don't leave me here! Don't leave me here all alone... Mom... Pops... A-Akane...", he choked.

"I can't die now... please not now... I had so much left I wanted to do... I failed..."

"I failed.", came the disbelieving whisper, echoing back at him from the white.

And then...

And then he heard the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

It started low, a bass life tremble that swiftly rose to echo melodically throughout his prison. The song itself was indescribable, no words spoken in the tongues of man could possibly do justice to such perfection. Suddenly the flow of light from his ethereal form slowed to a halt and that which had fled Ranma began to saturate his being. Confidence, courage, strength and hope. He raised his head from it's bowed position and gazed in open-mouthed amazement as a shape began to coalesce before him. It was a man, a man he knew very well. Ranma's eyes narrowed and he clambered to his feet defiantly one last time. Settling into a defensive stance he watched as Saffron, Lord of the Phoenix stepped out of the white to confront him.

"Hello Saotome"

"Saffron"

The image smirked, and then, in an action that shocked Ranma to the very core, relaxed his aggresive stance and gave the pig-tailed boy a gentle smile.

"Peace, Ranma, I have not come to fight with you", the image said, almost reproachfully, "I have merely assumed the last form I occupied in the physical world as it is the one you are most familiar with. I am not Saffron as you knew him but Saffron as he should have been, had he ever truly existed to begin with."

Ranma stared in disbelief. His greatest enemy was standing before him, the only one Ranma had ever slain in mortal combat and here he was chiding Ranma in his own afterlife.

"What are you talking about Saffron?", he asked bluntly. He gestured to the white surrounding them, "And could you please explain just what the hell is going on here?"

Saffron ruffled his feathers and gestured with a claw, making a couple of chairs appear in the same way he had. Ranma gaped comically and the god gave a bark of laughter. As Ranma took a seat the god shrugged his shoulders and made his wings vanish. and took the seat opposite him. Seeing that Ranma had been overloaded by the events of the last few minutes he took pity on the poor boy.

"This is not real Ranma... none of this is real. The official name for this location is the Astral Plane. It is a place completely comprised of thought, purely the work of the mind. Completely untrained as you are you have no practise in shaping the world to your will. This will change in time of course and it is in no way your fault... but I digress, let us return to the reason you are here."

Ranma shook his head and recovered his wits, he turned all his attention back to Saffron as what the god had just said sunk in. Saffron continued on speaking, pleased that he seemed to have the Saotome boy's full attention once again.

"Ranma, what do you know of me, my past and my nature".

Ranma paused for a moment, considering his answer. "Not much I suppose. I mean I know that you're immortal, you rule over the Phoenix tribe and you all have a really messed up attitude towards anyone without wings. Suppose I also know you can control fire, and that you're saturated with Ki but for some reason you don't use it. Add that to the fact that I killed you and you should be nestled all cosy inside you're egg waiting to be reborn and I am really starting to freak out about having you in my head". He looked questioningly over at Saffron and was somewhat surprised to see the look of genuine good-humor on his face. In his experience Saffron had two settings: haughty disdain and boundless rage. To see anything else was frankly a little more than he felt he could handle now in his fragile state of mind.

Saffron seemed to take note of his one-time adversary's distress and cocked his head to one side as if in thought.

"I see now that coming to you in this shape was a mistake Ranma, please forgive my insensitivity to our 'past' together. Let me assure you though that there are reasons for the way 'Saffron' acted as he did and, while not morally justifiable, they were not entirely his fault."

"Shape? You mean you aren't really Saffron?", Ranma asked

"I cannot lie to you Ranma, In a way I was Saffron and yet at the same time I am not. It is truly quite difficult explaining the exact mechanics of the situation to you utilising any Terran speech form. The languages of your time are not really devised to cope with the level of subtlety required for discussing the topic of psionics but I shall do my best. The Saffron you met was but a puppet, a tool shaped by his environment. He was a construct made of thought and emotion... just like the chair you sit upon but manifested in the physical world."

Ranma was stunned by this revelation. Sure he had always suspected that Saffron hadn't been a true god. His being was no doubt otherworldly but Ranma had, since the battle, suspected that he was truly some form of minor kami or nature spirit. But to hear that Saffron. the Lord of Phoenix mountain had been nothing more that a figment of his imagination, after all the suffering he had but Ranma and his friends through, was just a little hard to swallow. Wait a minute... did he just say Terran? What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"That can't be right, you bled, you were bruised and battered and I killed you. If you were just some mind game how could I hurt you at all? And what the hell are you talking about...Terran? Throw me a bone here Saffron!", he said, his voice rising in volume till he was almost shouting, his fists clenching and unclenching in frustration.

Saffron sighed and gave Ranma a withering look.

"Ranma if you would just let me continue there is much I have to tell you and very little time to do it. I can halt the effects of the outside world on your body for only so long before I must allow the laws that the govern the universe to take hold of you again. First of all, for simplicity's sake, let me just say that I am not Saffron, there is no, was no and never shall be a Saffron. Allow me to demonstrate"

With that the form of Saffron began to melt away into a mass of glimmering copper lights. Dancing like fireflies the motes spun around one another in mid-air until they began to take on another form. When the lights faded Ranma's mouth fell open once more. Sitting across from him was a perfect replica of his female form, from the size of her ample bust to the tiny birthmark that rested invisibly on her collarbone. She smirked and then Ranma felt his heart skip and the air around him become uncomfortably warm as she gave him a warm, heartfelt smile.

"I am the Phoenix, Guardian of the Life-Stream and Protector of the Sea of Souls, and I have been searching for you, Ranma, for the better part of 10,000 years!"

Ranma promptly did the only action who could possibly think of in the situation. He fainted.

(XXX)

Ranma awoke to an unpleasant tugging sensation emanating from his chest area. Opening his eyes tentatively he rattled out an almost sob of relief as the familiar walls of the Tendo Dojo greeted his eyes. Eyes which promptly took on an angry cast as he remembered why he had left in the first place. He had obviously been knocked out by the betrayer's damn mallet and everything he had experienced up to now, the fight, his death, his meeting with Saffron had all been a fever dream induced by the concussive force of the blow. He stood shakily and made his way from the building. He opened the main sliding door on the right-hand side of the of the Dojo and was greeted by a wall of fog, stretching off into infinite. No backyard or koi pond. No Pops and Mr. Tendo playing shogi. Nothing but the endless white of his nightmare.

"I'm sorry Ranma"

The sweet soprano voice made him spin around and there, standing in the center of the hall where he had been lying not moments before he spied Phoenix, still wearing his girl-form. She smiled sadly at him and gestured at the walls surrounding them. "I took the liberty of redecorating a little bit while you were out"

"Why... the Tendo Dojo" he croaked. It wasn't a dream. He looked down at his chest and shuddered at the light cord that still extended from it, passing through the walls of the Dojo as it they weren't there. But were it had been static the last time he looked now the light was flowing very sluggishly from his person.

"Because it was the last place that you felt at peace, I took the image from your memories. I apologise for the intrusion into your mind but I felt you might be able to cope with your situation better in familiar surroundings." Phoenix gestured to the light. "Time is really running short Ranma, I can only do so much in my present state and soon I will exhaust even my reserves. If our meeting goes on much longer I will not be able to keep you in this world."

Ranma felt himself go cold at those words.

"What do you mean?", he asked timidly, unable to meet her gaze any longer he stared at his feet instead. He didn't want anyone, even a mind-invading creature like Pheonix to see the tears in his eyes.

He felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him in a hug and looked up, shocked at his female half who now held him in her arms. He had not even felt her move. His first instinct was to stiffen, to bluster and extract himself from her embrace but found he couldn't move. The warmth, the tenderness, made him feel safe and whole and he could not find it within himself to leave it. Tears began to stream down his cheeks once more.

'Manliness be damned', he thought as he smiled a little. Then he heard Phoenix began to speak again and he found himself ignoring everything but her voice.

"Ranma when you were born you were destined to be a man of great power and responsibility. You really don't know how special you were meant to be.", Phoenix shifted leaned back from her hug and Ranma moved towards her, seeking to return to her arms but she just took his hand and guided him into sitting on the floor opposite to her. "You were meant to be the first of your kind, a herald of mankind's next step on the path to regaining what was once lost to your people. But something happened that crippled your potential. When you were seven years old your father subjected you to physical and mental torture in an effort to learn an unbeatable technique..."

"The nekoken!", he growled violently. He was a little surprised to hear an echoing growl from his companion.

"Yes!", she spat, "An abominable practice and one best lost to the annals of time." Phoenix seemed to be having some trouble keeping her emotions at bay and Ranma, by reflex, squeezed her hand that he still gripped, gently to show his support. The crimson-haired beauty took a deep breath and her composure seemed to return.

"As I was saying", she said, " You should not have survived the nekoken at all, the true purpose of the technique was to summon a malevolent being from elsewhere in the Astral plane and bind it in the sacrifice's body. It used to be used by primitive cultures to create unfeeling, unstoppable berserkers. It was really only because of your potential gifts that you prevented the majority of the technique's effects.

"What are these gifts you keep going on about?, asked Ranma, his interest piqued at the thought of having never reached his true potential. If he had been the best martial artist of his generation with such a handicap then what could he have accomplished with all his talent's at his disposal!

Phoenix nodded to acknowledge his enquiry, "Latent psychic potential Ranma. All humans possess it but you were to be the very first of your kind activate it, the primogenitor as it were. Your very presence on your world was the key to moving the human race along on it's next evolutionary step."

"Psychic... you mean like reading minds and stuff?, he asked, stunned.

"In a way...", Phoenix said, it was obvious she didn't want to waste much more time on answering his questions so Ranma just nodded and smiled to show he understood. The returned the grin in thanks.

"Anyway this is where I come in. Ranma I need your help."

"My help?" he asked.

"When you were struck by that monster, your soul was ripped from your body in a crystalline form and was badly damaged by a secondary blast. For the moment let me just say that the egg you have been caring for is precious to me and when you took it into your care I knew I had found the one I had been searching for all this time. There is a great evil at work on your world Ranma and it is my job to oppose their plans."

Phoenix shivered and pulled her hand from Ranma's and clasped them in front of her. Ranma could see her knuckles were white with the strength of her emotions but wisely decided to say nothing. Her voice was cracked as she continued.

"But I have never been so weak, my powers are waning day by day as theirs grow in strength. My race, and yes Ranma that is what I said, ...my race cannot exist in the physical world without a link of some kind.

At this point she reached forward and clasped his hands in her own.

"The problem is that only those with a certain strength can contain and maintain the link. Since the first fall of man there has been no-one in your solar system even close being able to bear my gifts. Until you... until you...", at this point her voice tailed off and Ranma found himself staring into those expressive blue eyes he had seen so often in the mirror.

"I can save your life Ranma", she said in a very small voice, "I can bring you back but there will be changes and the complications could be more than you can willingly accept. I will not force you into this however... it has to be your choice...". Phoenix took a deep shuddering breath and then continued, "Firstly you would have to agree to be my host, you would still be your own person but we would be linked irreversibly. Secondly you would have to accept the duties of my position, to be my avatar in your solar system. The first and second points lead to the most difficult part of our agreement. Ranma Saotome would be dead... I cannot restore you to your old body. I will need to build a new one for your soul to inhabit meaning that for all intents and purposes you will have no earthly family. The Saotomes will bury their son and mourn him but in time will come to deal with their grief and move on. It may be many years before you can see them again..." Seeing Ranma about to interrupt Phoenix shook her head to indicate there was more to come and that he should remain silent until she had finished. "Ranma your new body... It cannot be male. If you had remained in your old form then I could have used the form of your curse to bind with you but this new body will be just that... uncursed and unblemished by magics. I am Phoenix, Ranma, a being inherently female on all levels and I cannot grant a male host my full powers."

Ranma just sat their stunned as Phoenix composed herself once more.

"Ranma the choice is yours. You may live as Phoenix and fight against the coming darkness. Know that I will be by your side every step of the way and that we will always be together... or you may rejoin the stream of souls and fade from this world. I will then return to my vigil and hope to find another of your ability before either I perish or the coming evil swallows the world and eliminates all life from our Solar System.

(XXX)

Setsuna held the sobbing form of Nodoka Saotome to her should as she wept the bitter tears of loss for her only child. Ranma had looked so peaceful when she had finally reached him. Usagi and the Inners had quickly arrived and finished the Daimon with Moon's healing magic but nothing they could do could help the poor boy whose bright light had so quickly been extinguished by his own honor and selflessness. They had all cried tears for the boy and Usagi had to be restrained physically by Rei from trying to use the Ginzuishō to resurrect the poor young man. Minako had hugged the delicate young Moon Princess as she mourned the death of a stranger with that passionate sense of loss that set her apart from all others. To the Moon Princess even one death that could have bee averted was one too many. However, the dangers associated with the Silver Imperial Crystal were just too great for her to risk for just one life.. Makoto had patted her on the shoulder in support and even Ami had had some soft words of comfort for the distraught young girl, pointing out that with the boy's soul shell shattered, Usagi would be unable to help him in any case. She could call back his soul but without form there would be no way to anchor his spirit to his body again. In the end it had taken the arrival of the police to stir the girls into action and make them depart the scene. Setsuna had not interfered. It would be a bonding experience for the girls and a taste of what was to come. They would all be stronger for it and get through it like they did all obstacles...together.

Instead she had made her slow way to Naru's mother's jewelry store and had stood in the doorway, numb and empty as her friend, Nodoka Saotome had looked up from the cash register, the worry etched on her face as she saw no sign of her son. She had taken her carefully to the staffroom at the back of the store and made her sit down. By this time Nodoka had been frantically staring between her and the empty doorway as if waiting for Ranma to stroll his way into the room, a cocky smile on his lips and some half-hearted apology about being late. Setsuna Meiou, Guardian of Pluto, Defender of the Time Gates and warrior of ten millenia had opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She had tried again and this time:

"Nodoka-chan... an attack took place a-at the station... Ranma...I'm so sorry... Nodoka-chan... he was gone before the ambulance... I'm so sorry!"

Nodoka had collapsed into her arms... nothing more needed to be said. The heart-felt screams of a woman who had lost her only child, that life which she had brought into the world, echoed throughout the shop and soon they were joined by Naru's mother and even the young girl herself. The mother and daughter had held each other for support as they watched their co-worker and close friend mourn as only a mother could. Sestuna had allowed her own tears to flow.

'This wasn't supposed to happen!', she thought through her grief, 'None of this was supposed to happen! What changed? How did it change!'. Ranma wasn't supposed to die! He had a destiny to fulfill and without his influence there was every chance it would effect the birth of Crystal Tokyo. She needed to get to the time-gates, to study the repercussions Ranma's death would have for the future but not yet... not quite yet. It could wait till the morning. She was needed elsewhere and more than one person would need comforting this night.

(XXX)

Usagi looked at the table before her, the mound of cookies, sweets and manga showed that her friends had really pulled out all the stops for their Princess. The shrine table was fairly groaning under the weight of it's offerings and their expectant faces of her friends showed that they obviously meant for her to gorge herself on her favorite things, to be the normal, happy-go-lucky Usagi again and take a break from the pain they all felt for their failure this evening.

She didn't have any appetite however ...for anything...

There was an emptiness inside her that didn't make any sense. It was as if she had lost something important, something vital to her being. How she could feel this way over the loss of a boy none of them had ever seen before she didn't know but even if that hadn't been the case the death of a civilian was a tragedy that she would never come to terms with.

The other scouts were all grieving in their own ways, she could tell. Makoto's baking... she always made tons of food after a fight like today's, working in the kitchen helped her find her center again and deal with her sadness. Ami occupied herself with facts and figures, putting her soul into examining the fight and their foe so that she could prevent today's events from ever happening again. Minako, well she had been fighting crime for much longer than any of them and had seen more in her battles than she cared to share with everyone. Usagi had spent many a night at sleepovers with her friend, listening to her pour her heart out about her exploits and her deep hidden fears of failure. Usagi knew she would have to arrange another sleepover soon. This death would have greatly affected her friend and her bubbly quips were nothing more than a cover for her pain, it would not do for the Inner's official leader to be seen weak in front of her comrades. And Rei... Rei was Usagi's greatest friend of all. The princess of Mars was fiery and passionate, quick to anger yet quick to forgive. Rei was shuffling through her manga listlessly but Usagi knew once they had all gone she would retreat to gaze into the sacred fire at the heart of the shrine. She found her solace in spirituality and the will of the gods. What surprised Usagi though was that Rei seemed to be suffering almost as much as herself. She kept blinking the tears from her eyes and clenching and unclenching her fists in an action that Usagi realised that she was unconsciously mimicking.

"Sorry guys", she muttered, gazing down at her lap, "I guess I just don't feel like anything"

Makoto looked even more concerned at her words

"Come on Usagi you've got to eat something, what else and I going to do with all this food", she joked halfheartedly.

Usagi gave a little giggle which turned into a half-choked sob as once more the image of that young man, pale and cold, flashed across her vision,

"I just can't guys, I just keep thinking about that boy, lying there... If we'd been just a little quicker to respond... fought a little harder... I-I Oh REI!"

The Inner's watched in pain as their leader wept openly in her Rei's arms. The dark-haired senshi had caught the pig-tailed girl and was softly stroking her blonde hair in an unusual display of sensitivity. Normally Usagi would have thrown herself at her boyfriend, Mamoru but he had departed for China on an exchange programme and had ended their relationship before leaving (an action that none of the Inner's had quite forgiven him for yet). The scene was interrupted as someone cleared their throat quietly from the entrance to the study room.

Pluto entered with all her usual majesty and, in an unusual display of emotion, offered them all a pained smile before moving to her princess's side.

"Princess", she began but was unprepared to receive the form of her liege and the blond barrelled from Rei's arms to her own in a flash of speed. She caught herself before she fell, just barely, and out of reflex more than anything pulled the girl into another hug.

Needless to say the Inner's were stunned. For Pluto to show any emotion at all indicated that things were even more serious than they had expected. Had something gone wrong? Was Crystal Tokyo no more?

It took quite a while for thing to settle down again but eventually Pluto sat down beside the Inner's and faced them, her gaze steady and her soul composed once more.

"I have something to tell you all... about the boy who died today...", she began before being interrupted by Rei.

"Who was he Pluto?", asked the fiery shrine maiden bluntly, "Something just hasn't felt right since I saw him at the station, who is he to us?"

"The boy, Rei, was named Ranma Saotome and was one of the greatest martial artists since the great Ki-Singers of Mars still walked our worlds." Setsuna felt a small twinge of satisfaction as Rei's eyes went wide with shock, a sudden inrush of memories providing her with a reference for the praise Setsuna was heaping on the departed. "He was an important component in the rise of Crystal Tokyo. You see when he was six years old..."

The Inner's listen gobsmacked to the life and times of Ranma Saotome, the tale of adventure, romance, hilarity, courage and tragedy that had so cruelly been cut short by a twist of fate, and the repercussions of his death within their own lives.

(XXX)

Juuban Ward station was deserted. The police had been and gone. The body of Ranma Saotome had been taken to the morgue to be identified on the morrow. Nodoka Saotome and Genma Saotome, the parents of the deceased would be notified in the morning and would be scheduled to view the body at their earliest convenience to identify their son. All Ranma's belongings had been taken to the station to be catalogued and stored for collection, it had take three officers alone to lift the backpack and two to lift the umbrella (facts which puzzled the police to no end. What kind of man had this Ranma been to carry such items as nonchalantly as witnesses had reported). After a monster attack it was protocol to quarantine the area for 24 hours, in case any lingering traces of the monster remained and could pose a possible threat to the public.

So there was no one to witness as the motes of light began to coalesce in the chill night air. It began slowly, manifesting one by one to dance around each other in a strange aerial ballet. More and more began to appear, different colours: blue, green, white, crimson, gold, silver, bronze, purple... on and on, colours that had never been seen before by the eyes of man. Then, once the air of the station was flooded by them, all swirling around one another and mixing like a billion stars on an ink-black sky, they began to flow. As if called to one another, the lights all began to converge on one point, crunching together as a single pinprick of light until...

Flames errupted from the point of convergence, like a miniature big bang, or the birth of a star. Curling around one another the tongues of flame lanced out over and over from the main body of fire, piercing the darkness of the station, illuminating it completely and... if one stared into the center of the fiery mass...

A delicate porcelain foot touched down on the cool concrete floor of the platform, followed by another as the flame...twisted...into shape and settled. The rest of the body formed in the same way, outlined by fire before the blaze retreated inside, leaving behind perfectly formed, muscles, skin and bone in their wake. The woman dropped to the floor in a crouch and, unsteadily, rose to her feet.

She was approximately 5'6 in height, with skin that shone with an inner luminescence. Her body was slim, yet athletic with a definite muscle tone and not an ounce of fat to be seen anywhere. Her hair was the colour of the flames that had birthed her: crimson with hints orange and gold, and was cut short so that her silken locks only just kissed the back of her C-cup breasts were perfectly proportioned to her height and were tipped with pale pink nipples that had hardened noticeably in the cool night air. The well groomed pubic hair at the groove between her legs confirmed that she was indeed a natural red-head. Her face was as beautiful as the rest of her body, delicately sculpted without a hint of baby-fat. Her ruby lips stood out in plain contrast to her pale features and her eyes... they fluttered open... were the colour of the ocean, blue with a hint of emerald and hidden behind thick seductive lashes.

She looked around dazed, as if unsure where she was and then closed those captivating eyes and cocked her head as if listening to a voice no-one else could hear. Suddenly her face went slack and then... the eyes snapped open and blazed brilliantly, transforming to a pupiless gold that burned with the heart of a star. Her body lifted...actually lifted from the ground and as she spread her arms it was as if wings of flame erupted from within her to unfold around her levitating form. Talons formed from fire and then a great raptor's head... The girl now floated in the center of the blazing bird-shape that had formed around her. Her arms were extended, legs together and her head thrown back as the power coursed through her. She smiled and...

The Phoenix rose from the ashes of death and despair and her birth-song echoed throughout the hearts of everyone on the planet. Those pure of heart felt it as an overwhelming surge of happiness, whereas those with evil staining their souls felt a wave of horror like nothing they had ever felt before and in a small shrine in Juban...

(XXX)

"... and his descendants would have formed the heart of both the first great rebellion you would have faced as well as the great army of followers that would have formed to opposed the rebels. But now... I have no idea what to expect. I will have to spend much time at the time-gates in order to sort out and solve this mess", Setsuna rubbed her temples, expecting this last piece of information triggered another outburst from the scouts.

In truth the girls had been a most satisfying audience, gasping with horror at zll the right times, cries of anger at Genma's treatment of his son, tears of sorrow for all the hardships the boy had suffered and had been due to suffer. Usagi had wailed when she had brought up the neko-ken and Rei had started to think up the many and myriad was she could curse the fat panda. Minako had lamented his love-life (probably mistakenly believing she would be able to solve everything for the pig-tailed boy had she been given the chance) and Makoto had mourned the loss of such a master of the art to future generations.

But there was no outburst. Instead all of the scouts were staring off into space in rapture, as if transfixed by a sight invisible to all but a privileged few. She was about to enquire about what was going on when she felt it. A wave of happiness suffused her being, meeting her carefully constructed emotional barriers and shattering them as if they weren't even there. And it was just beginning... she felt the music, the song welling up in her heart.

None of the scouts present would be able to remember which one of them began first but one by one, the music began to spill from their lips. It had no words... at least none that they were able to remember. It was a song of joy, life, birth, creation and love. In their breasts their Sailor Star seeds began to glow.

In a dark bedroom, a short-haired little prepared to go to bed. Her voice joined in the song.

Strolling through the park, lovers walked hand-in-hand. Suddenly they stopped, eyes glazed and unconsciously held each other tighter as their voices danced in a delicate harmony. Their voices joined the song.

Pluto could only stare... at what she didn't know...as the song reached a crescendo and all feelings of pain were washed away... if only for a moment. She could feel it. Her very essence... the planet Pluto itself was crying out for joy. The lost one had returned and now they were complete.

The great rebirth had begun and the song of hope heralded it's coming.

Author's Notes

So here it is my first Ranma/SM crossover in 5 years. This Idea has been swirling around in my head ever since I read Ozallos's great yet abandoned work: Saffronification. The story however has taken on ideas and dimensions I had not considered and I am really writing in a frenzy at the moment as new angles keep coming to mind. Now the main crossover, Ranma/SM as I have said will be the focus of this tale, elements taken from other sources are just that although I will most definitely be including some Tenchi Muyo. Please let me know what you think because, review glutton that I am, I would really like your support if you want me to continue this work.