AN: I'm going to leave this particular alpha up, though the story is currently being written under the title "Death Reborn Evolution" and is my current main story. I may delete the chapter anyway, but I don't really see the point. All chapters in this particular "story" are basically Omake style plot-bunnies that I may choose to expand that I'd like some advice on. Aside from this first chapter, none of the others are in story form yet.

Disclaimer: Standard one that everyone uses. I own nothing used from any sources, which are all owned by their creators and the companies that purchased their rights. I'm borrowing them, with no intent of gaining profit, just for fun, and in homage to series that I have enjoyed. After all, the greatest form of compliments is mockery.

Fire, everything he could see was covered completely in flames while his opponent circled him from above. He knew the shrunken form of Akane in his pocket would not last much longer, but every attempt to reach the life saving water on the other side of the clearing was blocked by another blast of fire from his opponent. Ranma was nearly exhausted, and was nearly completely out of tricks. The Hiryuu Shoten Ha was an option, but he couldn't complete the spiral and all of the wounds he dealt his opponent were healed. He was nearly drained, having flung balls of energy the size of small cars, vacuum blades, and anything else he could think of at his foe, and he didn't know what he could do. Maybe if the power of the Genjakka hadn't given out, he would have had a chance, but it had been exhausted for nearly an hour.

Up above, Saffron readied one last blast to finish the landling annoyance below him. Charging up for nearly a minute, he lobbed a tremendous burst of flame towards the insolent boy. But then something happened that neither warrior could have expected, as the doll-like form of Akane threw itself into the path of the fire, and split it.

"Hiryuu Hyo Toppa!!"

There are many forms of energy in the universe, and all have the ability to fundamentally affect the surrounding world. There are purely physical manifestations like gravitational, electrical or mechanical energy, and transitional and intangible forms like heat and light. These basic energies are united in that they are unrefined, and they tend to disperse from areas of high energy. These forces are chaotic, and any attempt to organize them causes more instability elsewhere; however, because of this, they are relatively easy to harness, and nearly anyone can do so. But there exist other forms of refined power, split into two categories, spiritual energy or ki and magic which only special people can ever control.

Western wizards and witches have a long history of using wands, staves and rituals to cast charms, hexes, transfigurations and curses. Of these curses, three are counted more deadly than the rest, the so-called unforgivable curses. And of these, one is known simply as the killing curse, which kills instantly any who are struck by it. In fact, there has only ever been one survivor. This is not his story.

What many do not realize is that there is a second curse that is perhaps even more potent than the killing curse. Granted, it does not kill instantly, but it is far more insidious. The killing curse may be blocked by solid objects or avoided all together. While only one person has survived being struck by it, many have survived combat against it. But the ancient Chinese magi developed a much deadlier curse. It cannot be blocked, avoided or cured. It must run its course, and applications last at least 20 years. It can be targeted to a person, a location, or even a family. The original name has been lost for millennia, and even though it has existed far longer than the western equivalent, no one has yet outlasted this curse. Its name: "May you live in interesting times."

Ranma had had more encounters with magic than nearly any non-magical person alive, though he was a mere 17 years old. The most obvious and glaring example of this was his Jusenkyo curse which turned him into a short, busty redhead. But, he would not have been the least bit surprised to know that he had not one, but six separate applications of the single most deadly curse known. It certainly would have explained what he only thought was a lifetime of bad karma.

As the windborne scythe of air carved up his opponent, Ranma collapsed to the ground almost completely spent. With the last of his strength, he gathered up the doll form of Akane and made his way to the dragon tap and the water it contained. He split the head off, and bathed Akane in the freezing water, triggering the shift in gender. She didn't even notice Saffron's chewed up corpse as it lit up like a funeral pyre, leaving behind a gleaming egg in a pile of ash.

Magi have long studied the use of magic, and have developed multiple ways to use it. But what few have realized is that magic always leaves a permanent mark, unless ritually cleansed. This tends to not be an issue for magically attuned people, as they continuously cycle their own magic, and magically counteract any permanent effects they might be suffering. But for a non-magical person, while the primary effects of any spell or potion may wear off over time, a bit of residual magic accumulates. Ranma had been exposed to more diverse magics than anyone had realized because he did indeed live in interesting times. He had been subjected to a magic, soul-binding ritual in the Neko-ken to bind a cat demon. Though that was mostly cleansed by the old witch who coaxed him out of it, the Neko-ken training turned his body into something of a black hole for magic, it would absorb literally all the magic it could possibly get. This was added to by all of the cursed and magical training grounds his father dragged him to, the love potions forced on him by an over-amorous Amazon bimbo, drugs containing magical components by a ribbon wielding psycho, the Phoenix pill, side effects from both the locking ladle and unlocking kettle, and countless other small magical artifacts, including the Nanban Mirror, and stunningly enough, Akane's cooking.

Using the very last of his energy, Ranma gently set Akane's resuscitated body to the side of the water, and passed out face first in the water.

All of his magical exposure compounded to nearly saturate his body with unstable magic, which was brought to the breaking point during the battle with Saffron, where he absorbed potent ice magic from the Genjakka, raging fire magic from Saffron's flames and even a small bit of phoenix power. And then, with his body near the breaking point, his spiritual reserves and very life-force totally exhausted, Ranma collapsed into the most potent form of pure magic that he had ever encountered in the nearly frozen water of the dragon tap, a key component in the ascension of a demi-god into a full god.

-Two weeks later-

It had been a long and exhausting journey home. Genma paused for a moment before opening the gates to the Tendo compound. While generally a cold and abusive man, and unflinchingly stupid, he cared greatly for his son. He simply did not know how to express it.

"Oh my, hello Uncle, Akane" the every cheery voice of the eldest Tendo rang out from the front entrance. "I hope everyone had fun visiting their friends in China."

Soun burst from the front door and burst into tears as he saw his youngest daughter pass through the gate, " WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! My baby is safe, WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

As Akane scrambled out of the way, Soun turned on Genma, "Quick Saotome, call a priest, clearly the boy loves my daughter, before the day is up, they shall wed!"

Nodoka appeared in the doorway carrying her wrapped bundle at the same time that a trio of phoenix warriors descended on the compound bearing a casket. "Dearest, where is my son."

Genma sweated, and for once, didn't try to dodge the question. "N .. No-chan,.." He pointed at the casket.

-2 days later-

Ranma's funereal was truly impressive. Nearly all of Nerima showed up. The fiancées were devastated, but Nodoka was a wreck. She hadn't wanted to allow Genma to take her son and never had time to get to know him. Kasumi had informed her of what happened on the trip, including the Neko-ken, and she had filed a divorce from Genma. After some reflection, she realized just how painful Ranma's life had been, and realized that most of the fault laid with Genma, though no one, except Kasumi, was innocent. Cologne and the amazons paid their respects, though Mousse had to be locked as a duck, since he was gloating over Ranma's death. Ryoga even managed to find his way to the ceremony, feud mostly forgotten, and he mourned the loss of his rival. After all, he could hardly kill Ranma if he was already dead.

Also attending was Saffron offered to perform the cremation as an apology, having ascended after the battle was finished. Rebirth had cleansed his megalomania, and he truly regretted having destroyed such an honorable warrior.

Phoenix fire quickly consumed the casket and clothes, but then something interesting happened. Upon reaching the body, the fire stopped and fizzled out. Another fireball met the same fate before the body froze into a solid ice cube. Now, magic is a funny and unpredictable thing, unless being wielded through carefully designed matrices like a spell or a ritual. Since Ranma had been exposed to so many varieties of magic, the effects of absorbing so much raw magic at Mt. Phoenix had triggered some odd reactions. The most potent magic was his Jusenkyo curse, which provided a general template for change and an affinity for water. When he died in his cursed form, the body became locked, but the transformative aspect of the curse remained. Next most powerful was the tremendous infusion of pure Jusenkyo water from the Dragon Tap, which increased those affinities thousand fold, and increased Ranma's magical power thousands of times. Unknown to Ranma, the reason the Genjakka had stopped working was that his body literally drained it (temporarily) of its magic, adding another key component of ice and phoenix magic to his building core. Finally, Saffron's fireballs added a huge burst of phoenix magic, which is based around element manipulation and rebirth. All of these magics combined, fused and built upon the other minor sources that he had been exposed to, and Saffron's attempted cremation triggered an intense magical backlash.

The ice cube shattered, leaving behind a brilliant, shiny aquamarine egg. It was just slightly bigger than an ostrich egg, with a pattern of dark blue swirls. Condensation gathered on the surface, and the egg literally radiated cold.

Tenatively, Nodoka took a step forwards as the phoenix and amazons gasped. "Is… is that.. Ranma" She carefully gathered up the egg, wrapping it in the covering for the Saotome Honor blade, and forbid anyone but Kasumi from joining her at home.

AN or where I think I'm going with this: Many stories start with something happening to Ranma as a result of the battle atop Mt. Phoenix, and while I'd love to be original, for a starting point on my first attempt at writing, that just isn't going to happen. I intend to have Ranma reborn as a demi-human, something along the lines of the ice/water version of Saffron himself. Ranma will have blue patterned wings of mixed water and ice, and the ability to control both elements. I'm contemplating other changes as well, and *she* will have powerful magical abilities generally. However, I'm unsure where exactly to take this. The obvious crossover that I think I've left room for is a Harry Potter cross, which I fully intend to use, though I don't currently have the mechanics to get Ranma to Hogwarts yet. I was also contemplating a cross with either SM because I think that a reborn/younger Ranma would be very sympathetic to the reborn/younger Hotaru after the Pharoh 90 incident. Either that, or I was thinking of bringing the Gold Digger universe into play as well because it is just fun. However, I'm not sure if either additional cross would make this too crowded.

At any rate, any constructive criticism would be appreciated. I realize that I'm not the best writer (seeing as how I've not written anything creative in years), and any input as to where I should go with this would be quite useful. Also, I know that many other stories start in very similar ways, and Ranma has a habit of gaining wings in a lot of fanfic. Eventually, I hope to distinguish this from that.