Arc 1- The Awakening

Prologue - Epiphany

"Awakening describes the moment of awareness, the sudden illumination that strikes and turns an otherwise normal (or not-so-normal) person into a mage. What provokes an Awakening? How does the typical mage-to-be react to the sudden infusion of incredible knowledge, insane wisdom and reality-skewing power? The Avatar, once roused from slumber, gives a great shout and heaves off the bedclothes. Now it's time for the mage to face the cold, dark world." Anonymous Mage from Initiates of the Art

Note: Divergence point- Ranma has Ryouga and Mouse watch over Akane while he fights Saffron so she is not with him during the battle. Mouse and Ryouga fight to reach the Jusendo water while Ranma holds off Saffron.

September 25th, Phoenix Mountain, Jusendo China

"Tenka Shunmetsu Koukyuu Dan! (Any-mortal Instant-Annihilation Emperor sized ball blast) Saffron cried out as he blasted Ranma with his attack.

The onlookers could only look on in shock as the mountaintop was blown away. Saffron sneered as Ranma cleared the debris cloud from his attack seemingly unharmed. "I will not allow you to escape!" He tosses another fireball at the fleeing martial artist. "You actually froze yourself with the Gekkaja to stop my attack? Your persistence is incredible for a mere mortal! And very, very annoying! A clever trick, but you only delay the inevitable; my next attack will shatter your frozen body to pieces."

His body frozen from the ice of the Gekkaja, Ranma stared down at Saffron. "I'm nearly at my end." He thought. "I've only one chance left to defeat him. If I punch through the fire with my frozen fist, I can drive a Hiryu Shoten Ha right into that bastard's heart! But with so much heat everywhere the cold spiral will be squeezed to a razor's edge... It should cut him to ribbons, but my aim must be perfect. I won't get a second shot at this." Crushing all thought, all emotion, Ranma dives deep into the soul of ice calling forth the last of his Ki to enhance the freezing power of the Gekkaja.

"Tenka Shunmetsu Koukyuu Dan!"

Ranma screams as his body is engulfed in the Phoenix King's attack. The Ice of the Gekkaja and the frozen Ki from his Soul of Ice barely holds back the heat. "I'm going to die here. I can feel the last of my Ki failing. Even if I could find the strength for a Hiryu Shoten Ha, I can't see him to hit him with it. No... I can't die here. I refuse to let this overgrown seagull kill me. I need something more. I will win." Darkness engulfs him as reality fades away.

There really are no words for what he experienced at that moment. To say that he saw the depth and breadth of existence would only cheapen what really happened. Understanding, true understanding of your place in the grand scheme of things tends to drive people to insanity. Never let it be said that Ranma Saotome ever let a simple thing like being insane get him down. In short, he had an epiphany.

"So you finally found me." Spoke a voice out of the darkness.

Still recovering from his brush with infinity, Ranma just grunted. His body seemed to be flickering in and out of existence, as if only his will and belief that he existed was keeping him from dissipating into the multi-verse of concepts that he barely grasped. "Who're you?" He asked the voice.

"I suppose that's for you to find out. You knew me for a brief eternity there, so I suppose you will know me again." A form flickered in the darkness, something just on the edge of his frayed consciousness. "For now I'm just going to stretch a bit from my sleep. You know what you need now. There's no going back from here, your eyes are open now, so go. Survive. And a bit of advice, try to enjoying the trip a little more; the destination's really not so important."

Ranma felt a pressure on his chest and felt himself fading out of existence.

Ranma opened his eyes. Everything was different now. He felt Awake; it was the only way to describe the feeling. It was as if all the previous days of his life had merely been a dream, and only now was he awake. Saffron's flames burned around his frozen body melting the ice away. He still had no Ki left but that didn't matter. As he took in his surrounding he realized that the fire around him, the Ice engulfing him and the Gekkaja itself fairly shone with energy. He could see the lines of power threading through the tapestry of reality that was woven about him and he knew he could twist that tapestry. He could reach out and use that energy and tear the very fabric of reality apart.

The thought was frightening. However the thought that he could use that same power to tear the so-called Phoenix-God to shreds was much more appetizing. He reached out and drew upon the energy around him his mind forming a pattern and forcing it into existence through sheer willpower. The flames between him and Saffron were absorbed as a massive amount of power flooded his body and soul. He wrapped himself in Ice and took aim at the overgrown bird that had tried to kill him and harmed those around him who he loved. "You say you're immortal? Let's see you regenerate from this bastard! Hiryu Shoten Ha Special Edition- Hiryu Hyou Toppa!"

The tight spiral of wind burst forth from his outstretched fist and tore Saffron apart as he fell from the sky towards the earth below.

Ranma was exhausted. His mind was still reeling from what he'd done and what he'd seen. His conscious mind still couldn't grasp what it was that he'd experienced, but his mind seemed to be working differently now. "I don't have time to worry about this now. Damn tomboy better still be alive when I get there." He took off as fast as he could; reinforcing his body with the energy he was still drawing from around him.

Notes-I know its short. I really didn't want to write the phoenix mountain episode, but it was where the story needed to start. Sorry. BTW- almost all of the dialog is from the English translation of the Manga Volume 38 Chapter-8

Martial Arts Techniques as rotes-

Ki Body Enhancement-Life3, Prime2

Analyze Fighting Style-Entropy-1 Mind-1

Stance of the Perfect Defender- Correspondence-1, Entropy-1, Mind-1

Unify Mind and Body- Life 3, Mind-1

Threat Assessment- Forces-1 Entropy-1, Life-1

Tactical Genius-Entropy-2, Mind- 1-4

Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken- Time3 Life2, Mind1

Mouko Takabisha- prime2 Mind1 (Q. Cost- 1-5)

Soul of Ice- Mind2 Forces2

Hiryu Shoten Ha- Prime3, Forces-3(Q. Cost-3)

Hiryu Hyou Toppa- Prime4, Forces3, (Q. Cost-10)