Rise of the Phoenix

Don't own Ranma 1/2 or Sailor Moon, they're owned by whoever.

I will be using the Japanese names for Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon timeline is early during Sailor Moon R but the scouts are 16 years old. As for Ranma, this will take place shortly after the series ending. Now, on with the show.

She didn't want to move, didn't want to answer her communicator as she laid in a crumpled heap in the alley as the dark shadow finally lumbered off into the night as if he melted into shadows. Her right eye sore and partly swollen shut from a brutal strike from the earlier fight which she lost. Her bottom lip split open and bleeding a bit as well as several more scrapes and bruises littering her body, several painful wet feeling ones on her back where she was pinned on the ground just minutes earlier.

Trying to readjust her torn blouse to give her some kind of modesty she fought the pain and sat up pulling out the beeping device that had been going on and off for the last half hour. She wanted nothing more than to throw it across the alley into the stone wall in anger at everything. How could someone do this to her, she protected the city as Sailor Moon, granted no one but her closest friends knew that, but how could one of those people she protected do this? How could she let it happen, she was Sailor Moon and should have been able to fight the man off but it happened to fast to transform and she knew deep down that she had no way to fight him off untransformed but at the moment she didn't care about that little bit of logic.

Growling a little as her sobs started to quiet down she hit the button on the watch like device to connect with whoever it was that was calling. Should she honestly care though? Her friends may be in trouble but was they there for her to help her at all lately? They all lavished the little spore with attention and talked down to the blonde after Mamorou dumped her. They obviously didn't give a damn about her so why should she care about them? Against all her anger and pain she still knew why, she couldn't turn her back on anyone who was in trouble, it just wasn't in her.

"Where have you been meatball head?" The angry voice of Rei demanded to know over the small devices speaker, the screen and camera damaged from her fall earlier. She would have to get Luna to fix that later. "You know what, it doesn't matter, just get your lazy ass over to the park. There is a droid attacking everyone here!"

Rei didn't even bother to wait for Usagi's reply as the signal was cut angering the blonde a bit. The shrine maiden was getting worse and worse lately bossing the blonde around, acting as if she was in charge of everything. Usagi was the moon princess so where the hell did the black haired girl get off pulling stunts like this? And worse yet, no one has even bothered to back Usagi up or take her side. She was getting sick of it, sick of all of it.

Getting to her feet, swaying a bit as the pain tried to keep her from moving to much Usagi yanked the broach off her ruined blouse and thrust it in the air over her head calling out, "MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"

Usagi sighed in relief as the power washed out from the crystal on through her body giving her renewed strength and temporarily washing most of the pain away even if the injuries were still there under her costume and disguise field. Unlike what many people thought though, the sailor disguise field worked on everyone including each other. They only reason they knew who each other really was wasn't because they could see through they field but because they knew each other and was there when they transformed.

Channeling her anger while knowing if she didn't she would easily be overwhelmed by her other emotions Usagi moved forward as soon as the transformation was over. It took very few seconds to jump to the roof and then roof hop across the city to the park where she could see flashed of light as she got closer. The current droid was actually pretty fast, staying ahead of the senshi's attacks but not noticing the new blonde's arrival as Usagi quietly touched down behind the silver and candy apple red droid, a cross between a woman and a hot rod.

"About time you got here!" Rei snarled, yelling at Usagi as the blonde was preparing her attack trying to surprise their enemy. Usagi was half way through charging her attack when the droid saw what she was doing. The creature wasted no time is blurring into action planting a painful fist into Usagi's gut causing her to fold over in pain over the things arm before being launched several feet into the air and crashing down hard on the ground making her cry out in pain.

"I will only say this one more time," Bertie says as she appears floating over the group with her arms crossed under her breasts. "Give me the rabbit and you all will live. I'll even let you go on with your boring, insignificant lives."

"Never!" A male voice shouted just as Bertie disappeared again just in time for a rose to fly through where the dark moon sister was just moments earlier barely missing her. Everyone's attention was drawing to the tuxedo clad man balancing on top of one of the light poles.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Usagi called out after getting her breath back, relief flooding her as she stared up at who she believed was her soulmate.

"The city needs you Sailor Moon, it is time you grew up and take your responsibilities more seriously." Mamorou said in a monotone voice, coldness in his eyes. "If you wasn't playing games and answered your communicator earlier a lot less people would have gotten hurt."

"Wow, some boyfriend brat." Bertie said reappearing in the air, her voice partly amused butt even Usagi could sense the pity in the woman's tone of voice.

"Stay out of this!" Usagi snarled, tears leaking as she spun around as the droid was just inches away from her and rammed her scepter into the creatures gut. Without even saying a word Usagi took all of her pain and anger and channeled it into the scepter along with a large burst of magic. The droid let out a shriek of pain as magical energy tore through her and out her back before she turned to dust moments later.

"You know, maybe your right." Bertie said nervously, "I'll leave you to your lovers quarrel."

"Stop right there!" Minako demanded throwing her chain at the woman who just disappeared before the golden chain reached her.

"Where were you, Usagi?" Ami asked, her voice a little quiet but the blonde could still hear the accusing tone of voice the girl used which hurt more than anything Rei had ever said. Ami was always the one who while not really standing up for Usagi lately the blonde could always at least count on her not to start acting like Rei by verbally attacking before bothering to hear out an explanation.

"That's what I want to know!" Rei said storming over to the blonde and shoved her hard making her stumble back a few feet but was able to keep her footing. "God Usagi, you are so useless, you had the perfect chance to get he drop on that thing but instead you decided to play around! We could have been hurt!"

"What he hell? I was going to attack but..." Usagi said but was interrupted but Minako before she could get any farther.

"Usagi, stop making stupid excuses." Minako said tiredly, "I hate to say this but the penguin is right, you really need to grow up and take your responsibilities more seriously."

Usagi could only shake her head, tears starting to fall as she stepped backwards putting a few feet between herself and her so called friends. Looking over her shoulder she noticed that Mamoru was long gone but she really didn't expect anything else anymore.

"Usagi, we have this new enemy trying to get here hands on Chibi-Usa for whatever reason and all you do is cry about what is happening to you." Makota said as she rubbed her temples. "Girl, we love you but right now we can't stand you. We can't stand this selfish attitude of yours endangering others."

Selfish attitude? Usagi sacrificed so much, even started training harder and sometimes patrolling on her own just to take some of the pressure off the other girls and to become a better leader. She didn't tell anyone but if they cared they would have wondered why she has been even more tired lately or even complimented her on how much better she was getting at fighting. She was even sacrificing the relationship she had with her family as the tension between her mother and herself was growing more and more as they fought constantly about Usagi staying out at night.

How dare they accuse her of being selfish? She had every right to be hurt over Mamoru dumping her again and treating her the way he was. She had every right to mourn the loss of her love, the man she was supposed to be destined to be with. She had every right to try and be at least a little normal as more and more of her life was being taken away from her as everyone told her who she was and what she was supposed to do when the person the expected her to be died all those years ago with the fall of the Silver Millennium. Usagi was Usagi, not a long dead princess even if that girl was a small part of the blonde.

"Answer us Usagi!" Rei snapped, "And don't you dare start your whining!"

Didn't they care about what happened to her at all? What she suffered through this night?

"Usagi, answer us." Minako said, her voice growing tense.

"You know what?" Usagi asked, her voice a mixture of a laugh and a sob. "I've had enough of this. With friends like you all who needs enemies?"

"Would you care to repeat that?" Makota asked incredulously.

"Rei, you more than any can go to hell!" Usagi snapped shocking the four other girls enough that Usagi easily fled from the park and escaped the other girls. It didn't take her long to get to her street where she released the power keeping her in her Sailor Moon for leaving her once again as the scared, injured blonde girl whose pain quickly returned with the loss of the magic making her body more endurable.

Clutching her side where the droid had punched her and aggravated the bruise already there, Usagi limped up to her home and fished out her key to unlock the door and slipped inside locking it behind her. With a sigh of relief the girl started limping toward the stairs so she could go take a long hot bath to hopefully draw some of the soreness and pain away and hopefully wash of the dirt.

"And where have you been young lady?" Ikuko asked flipping on the lights drawing Usagi's attention. The older woman was leaning against the door frame to the kitchen glaring at the blonde until she got a good look then concern and worry washed over her face. "Oh my god Usagi, what happened to you?"

"Momma!" Usagi sobbed throwing herself in her mothers arms as she couldn't keep it together anymore. No mater who much they fought Usagi knew the older woman loved her and would always be there to protect the blonde.

RANMA-SM

Three months earlier...

Saffron watched as the high powered attack came straight for him ready to block it, in fact he already had a shield in place to block it. It was then that he took a closer look at he energy signature and gasped, there was no way he was seeing this. The power was mostly ki but there was some magic laced in with it, magic that not many of the phoenix could wield any longer as the clan's bond with the sun had been weakening more and more. It wasn't that fact though that caused the self proclaimed demi-god to react he way he did, no the reason that caused him to freeze and drop the shield in shock was that he recognized the power signature. It was the power signature of the person he thought was lost to him forever but bless the Queen's heart, she must have sent her soul to the future as well.

"I'm very proud of you my child." Saffron whispered to the wind as the attack hit shredding into him. He knew it would kill his current body but it was for the best that he was reborn again as his current form was unstable thanks to the necessity of having to mature to his full power way to early due to circumstances. It wasn't necessary now that he knew that his only child was still alive, Saffron had faith in his offspring and knew he could rest easily for now.

"Please save our clan my daughter." Saffron whispered as he slowly reverted back into an egg to be reborn again.

1 Week Ago...

"You can't be serious." Ranma said sitting at the table before his parents in the Tendo Dojo. This day had been the worse one yet since returning from Jusendo as Akane had actually said she hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. True she said that plenty of times but this time it didn't have any emotion to it like usual, she didn't say it out of being hurt or anger. No, this time her voice was so cold and serious, she had called him a worthless freak and broke the engagement and this time Ranma believed that she meant it for good.

Now sitting on the table in front of her was something she couldn't believe she would ever see. Looking up from it at her parents she couldn't read his mother's expression but his father's was dead serious and if the redhaired woman wasn't saying anything and the man wasn't in a corner blubbering in fear, then that meant that she agreed with what was before the teen which caused his heart to drop. This was the perfect end to the perfect day.

"Either you fulfill the honor of the Saotome family and marry Akane tomorrow or you will be declared ronin as the paper says." Genma said, crossing his arms and huffing arrogantly.

"Son, this is a matter of family honor." Nodoka said, her voice soft and unsure but Ranma really didn't notice the way she sounded as he was focusing on what was being said and the feeling of betrayal filling him.

"The schools must be joined." Genma said as he smiled in triumph. "Either you fulfill your duty or we have no son."

"But Akane broke the engagement..." Ranma said trying to protest but Genma stopped him before he could continue.

"The schools will be joined Ranma, now decide!" Genma demanded while glaring at Ranma.

"You know what old man?" Ranma said as he stood up and glared down at his parents. "I'm tired of all this crap anyways, I'll be more than happy to go ronin because then all the engagements and crap will be your problem."

"Y-You don't mean that." Genma said as all blood left his face.

"I...I think I do, Mr. Saotome." Ranma said as he turned and started to walk away. "As far as I'm concerned you both can piss off if this how you want it."

"R-Ranma!" Nodoka called out but it was too late as the pigtailed youth was out the door and over the wall surrounding the property roof hopping away.

Released on March 25, 2010