EPILOGUE of Infinity's Shore

By James barnhill



Disclaimer:  I own none of these characters, and I really hate disclaimers,
like this one.  But that doesnt matter does it?  Oh no!  Im just a fanfic
author TRYING to have some fun but OTHER people feel that EVERY story MUST
be perfect whether it was meant for fun or not!  Damm it....now the good
mood I was in disappeared......I know some of you know how to have
fun...but those other people, they're going to have problems with their
blood pressure sooner or later.



Satisfaction Disclaimer:  Well you get the point by now.  I aint perfect
nor am I going to give myself a nervous breakdown just to make a perfect
story, besides, thats what family's for:)



Thanks go out to my prereader Jerry and the people of the Ranma Fanfic
Forum.



-----------------------------------------------



In the cubicles around the worker the sound of people typing and talking
could be heard through the almost non-existant walls.  On the computer
screen the spreadsheet was reduced while a browser was brought up and
similiarly reduced and a dail-up window came up.



>LOGIN NAME?  Archimedes

>PASSWORD?  211ioiohiho



In quick succession the flurry of advertisements were deleted leaving the
screen bare save for the company logo and several icons over a light blue
background.  Inquick succession the browser was brought up and the
bookmarks quickly selected.



>BOOKMARK/NEWS CHANNELS/INW12



>Downloading media files, please wait..........



"Hello, Im Stacy Darlow for Internet News Watch channel 12.  Todays top
story is the civil war in China.  Around 8AM East Coast time the first
gunshots of the new cultural revulution were heard by news reporters
stationed in Biejin who immediately spread this information by streaming
video over the internet before their links were cut off, whether or not
this means they were killed we do not know, our thoughts and prayers go
with them.  Numerous intelligence services have refused to comment on the
rumors that this new revolution was started by special forces sent by
various UN members in response to other reports pointing to stolen files
from America's Livermore Laboritories were being used to create nuclear
weapons for possible terrorist activities.  As this story unfolds we will
bring you all the latebreaking news.  Wait a minute....yes I ve just heard
that a link to the capitol has been reestablished with Jeff our anchorman
there, here he is now!"



"Stacy!  Can you hear me?  Uhhh....Im walking along one of the newly
deserted streats that meet in Tienemen Square, off in the distance I can
hear shouting and sporadic gunfire but luckily I have managed to avoid the
brunt of the violence.  If the images Im transmitting seem a bit jerky its
because my camera man ran off sometime after contact was lost with the
studio so I have to carry it myself.  Im at Tienemen Square, the sounds of
gunfire are almost continuous now as we appraoch what is assuradly one of
the many battlegrounds in this bloody conflict.  Here!  Zoom up, can you
see the body?  It...looks like whatever killed her tore most of her head
off.  And here.."



Through the computers small speakers the sounds of some sort of commotion
could be heard before the newsmans camera panned toward it to reveal a
group composed of chinese military and civilians holding guns pointed
towards the newsman and the camera man.  The mixed group quickly asked the
newsman several question in quick succession leaving him little time to
translate for his audience as he tried to answer each and every one.  For a
minute their was tense silence before one of the chinese civilians held out
their hand to which the newsman responded by holding up his own which the
camera caught as holding several paper notes.  Before the hands met gunfire
was heard and the camera's field of view swung around before ending up on
the ground, meaning that either the camera man was dead or had dropped the
camera to run to safety.  Barely enough time passed for the image coming
from the camera to clear before the newsman fell to the ground before it
with a single bullet shot to the forehead.  With hands shaking from nervous
energy the worker hastily cut the connection, then noticing the silence and
looking around only to find that almost everyone else within earsht had
been watching the same broadcast.  They all looked as stunned as the worker
felt, as word spread the hustle and bustle of the entire floor slowed to a
halt as more people logged onto the internet to see or hear what was
happening.



--------------------------------------------------



Up ahead the full moon could be seen through Usagi's bedroom window, and
normally she would gaze upon it until falling asleep, but not tonight.  Not
with a stranger in her room, well, not quite a stranger.  Shampoo was a
friend but at times Usagi had to wonder how long this would last.  With
both her and Shampoo after Mamorou disaster seemed inevitable despite
Pluto's promide that it would all turn out right.  But how could it?  How
could both she and Shampoo bear each other while Mamorou was around?



It didnt make any sense to her, not like it should have.  If she was to
become a queen then shouldnt she have a firm understanding of what was
currently going on and their possible reprucissions to her people?  Maybe
not.  Remembering something Ami said almost a year ago she quietly said it
under her breath.  "Ignorance is bliss."



Was that how her mother ruled?  She wouldnt, couldnt know until the time
was right.  But even then she had little choice in the matter.  All she
could do now was listen to Pluto's advice when she gave it.  Her mother had
picked the woman to guard the Gate of Time so that had to mean that she had
trusted her.  But then what about Ranma?



Memories she couldnt quite grasp waved enticingly before her conscious mind
but the feelings associated with those memories were easy to comprehend,
fear, anger and deep revulsion.  Though she couldnt understand the first
two she had felt somewhat sick when close to Ranma, then walking away from
him the sick feeling would dissipate to nothing.  Strange, like everything
else about him.  Despite Pluto's words of caution of Ranma being inately
evil she couldnt feel any of that from him.  But she could never be sure as
there was always one of her friends there with her for safety reasons.  He
wasnt evil, but she trusted her friends who all thought that he was evil,
so who was right?



Even if the answer seemed simple there was something it lacked.  But she
didnt know what it was, though it had to be important.



And Ranma's death, yet another mystery.  From what Pluto told her Ranma's
condition was so bad that nothing could save him, it was a reason there
werent more like him in the world.  But that didnt sound right.  If he was
sick then she could have just tried healing him with a Moon Escalation, or
maybe Hotaru could have helped him.  But for whatever reasons there were
she could now admit to a certain feeling of skittishness while around him
so much that she just trusted what Pluto said if it meant not getting near
him.  Of them all it was Ami who had looked....releived?....when they all
heard about Ranma's sudden death and the explosive destruction of his
appartment from said death.



Usagi turned over and tried to go to sleep, tommorrow she would have to
talk with Pluto, something wasnt right but her sleep addled brain didnt
have the ability to ferret out what it was.  Sleep, when it came for the
princess, was filled with half remembered dreams that did little more then
cause her to toss and turn the entire night.



--------------------------------------------------



As there was no school for the day Kasumi chose to wake up a bit later then
usual to start breakfast.  With the Saotome's gone there was no real rush
for breakfast each and every day like it had been while they were staying
in the house.  In fact, everything had settled down except for the odd
visit from either Kuno or Kodachi searching for Ranma or Akane.  With a
yawn Kasumi got out of the furo and dressed for the day to come.  With the
level of violence/wierdness practically non-existant she had more free time
to learn medicine and, occasionally, reply to the odd letter she got from
Dr. Tofou every once in a while.  Opening the door she was surprised to see
Akane standing just outside the door to the bathroom.



"Hello Akane, your up early."



Akane literally beamed at her older sister as she stepped just inside the
bathroom.  "Hai, oneechan!  Its a great day, isnt it?"  With that she
closed the door to the bathroom before Kasumi could ask her any questions.



Laying out breakfast Kasumi greeted her family as they sat at the table.
Soun took on his usual seat at the hed o the table with his morning paper,
but out of the corner of her eye kasumi could see him glance at the shogi
board every now and then.  Nabiki in her usual relaxed clothing sat near
Akane, still not quite fully awake but she had never been much of a morning
person except during the Saotome's stay.  And Akane, well, she was
positively brilliant.  Maybe it was because she had helped the Sailor
Senshi last night?  That would explain why she was up so early if she had
been awoken late at night.  Though at first shocked when she and Nabiki had
found out about Akane's dual identity they both came to except it and
though Nabiki grumbled at times about photo shoots and missed opportunities
she had kept her word not to tell anyone, especially their father.



Nabiki, being as blunt as usual asked Aken why she was so happy and at
first it sounded like she wouldnt tell but after some gentle and not so
gentle prodding from Nabiki she finally relented and began to tell them
everything, literally.  Before Akane was even halfway through Nabiki was
helping Kasumi out of the room while she cried.  Akane blinked several
times before turning to her father whose hair was standing strait up.



"Was it something I said?"  Seeing her father nod his head, albiet
slightly, she ran off after her sisters with the intent to explain why
she'd had to kill Ranma.  They would understand.  Then maybe she could cook
something for her friends.



--------------------------------------------------



The other scouts as well as the martial artists had left the scene, leaving
Pluto alone to look at the scorched ground where Ranma had existed and
died.  Despite the rain her uniform and body were completely dry, yet a
small trail of water ran its course from one eye to her chin.  She stared
down at the charred ground, the keystaff held in a white knuckled grip that
would have broken anything else.  Her iron control, one of the few traits
she had been praised for during the Silver Millenium, cracked.  It wasnt
much more then a small chink in her armor of self protection, but it was
enough to push all other thoughts aside if just for a brief time.



"Why......?"



Thunder and lightning from the runaway storm answered her and as the
lightning flashed high overhead in a traveling arc through the clouds, her
keystaff glowed faintly in sympathy.  The hand gripping the staff relaxed
its grip.



"I could have........."



Sailor Pluto's body jolted as if it had been shocked before she angrily
wiped away the tears and left the scene, her face as ever a mask of perfect
iron control.  With a shimmer of displaced air she was gone, leaving no
trace of her having ever been there.



------------------------------------



The Time Gate continued to function as it had for many thousands of years,
the room that housed the 'guts' of the Time Gate was almost the same.  Rows
upon rows of special machinery that combined limited technology with
powerful magic to fully control the forces that the Time Gate could
unleash, millenia ago these same machines had first been set up.  As time
passed several small additions had been made in the form of refined spells
and a system for each machine that would act as a auto-repair system when
trained technical assistance could not be found.



For thousands of years these psuedo machines ran the Time Gate, regulating
its power input and its effects upon the time stream to the point where it
could be controlled by one person while the spells that both ran and kept
them functioning continued to act as they had when first created.  But
these machines could not control all variables, only what their designers
had thought probable.  What had not been planned for was the surge of power
that went strait from the machines controlling the Time Gate to the Time
Staff that Pluto wielded.



But unlike the other times when no one was there to see the small storm of
lightning bolts cross from one thick cable to the next from one machine to
the very next, this time something living was around to watch the event in
a limited fashion.



In the center of one of the rooms where cables from different corridors ran
through the floor for some other area sat a pedistal uppon which a small
figure lay frozen in a half crouching stance.  Despite looking like a
statue from far away upon closer inspection clothes could be clearly seen
as well as the rage painted on the figures face.  In one shriveled hand he
held a womans panty while the other hand reached into the small dark brown
gi, reaching for something that would not be shown for a very log time.
Around Happosie's still form the stasis field continued to function,
causing the air about him to shimmer with small suspended light blue motes
of light.  Before Happosie a small message could be seen scratched into the
pedistals top.



'Abandon all hope.'



------------------------------------



Authors Notes:  This completes the first arc of the story, ah, I didnt
mention that before did I?  All I can say is that it just suddenly occured,
BTW, how many people would be interested in seeing a prequel to the
Infinity's Shore story?  Dont be afraid to speak up now.



For the moment I think I will take a few minutes to answer a few
questions.



Question 1:  Are you using Jedi mind tricks on the readers?



Answer:  Im shocked, insulted even.  Do I really LOOK like the sort of
person that would use such tactics on all of you?  I may have tried a bit
of telekenesis to move my computer but even that didnt work too well as I
didnt move the computer ONE freaking inch.......though the rest of the
appartment is gone (atleast its summer).  So no mind tricks were used in
past chapters *THIS IS NOT THE QUESTION YOU WANT TO ASK*



Question 2:  Why didnt you begin this story at the very beginning instead
of just leaping into the action?



Answer: This was a unintended story from the very beginning, at first it
was just to be a oneshot story since I was feeling a bit dark that day
(okay, REALLY dark).....then...well....it snowballed and became this before
I knew it.  And before you say planning a story out makes it better it only
works on some people, not nesicerily everyone, for instance the last time I
tried to plan something out instead of just writing it I never finished the
chapter, as it was I had to post it anyways before I got SICK and TIRED of
the idea!!!  Besides, Im not doing this to write a perfect story, Im doing
this for fun, now why are you writing if it isnt for fun?



Question 3:  How could Ryouga fall for Minako so quickly?



Answer:  Consider how easy it was for him to fall for Akane, like Ranma he
doesnt have much expreience with wemon, this is proven by the way Akane
treats him like a friend and he predictably over reacts and falls for her.
Now consider Minako, like Makoto she is...boy-hungry lets say so she would
instantly treat Ryoug with more effection then Akane ever did, and with
Ryouga's inexperience coupled with Akane or rather Sailor Io's new attitude
it wouldnt take long for him to start liking Minako back (or to start
acting like a blithering idiot, whichever comes first).



Another sort of topic that has reared its ugly head is that I have been too
unfair to Akane.  Now before you flame me for that you can atleast
understand why I made her a villian.  First of all I dont really care about
Akane one way or the other, so I am niether pro or anti-akane.  Second I
CANT think of any ideas to pair Ranma up with Akane since all of my ideas
are crossovers and I feel the concept of a Ranma+Akane matchup is too well
used for me to add anything meaningful.  Third, I needed some more
villians, plain and simple and this way Akane gets a free upgrade to make
her better then Ranma.



A word of warning though if you disregard the above statement:  DONT MAKE
THIS POLITICAL UNLESS YOU THINK YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT A SPINE CAUSE
I-HATE-POLITICS!!!!



IF you really hate this story that is your own opinion and I will do
nothing to change it, so if you didnt like it just delete the story from
your hard drive and forget both I and it ever existed.....believe me, its
alot easier then it sounds:P



But if you should make a big deal over this, then make it political then I
will have no recourse to take but to show just how much worse I can truly
be...



Authors Notes, additional:  I finished another chapter?  Yes!  Im finished
with this chapter.  No one tried to burn me at the stake, or splash me with
holy water (that stuff hurts!!!), or send me back to heck (that Phil guy
just gets on my nerves)!



BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  I AM INVINCIBLE, BOW BEFORE ME WORLD!
I........I......I....thats wierd.....for a moment, I thought I saw someone
dressed as a Sailor Senshi run past the window.  Maybe somethings wrong
with my sight?



Nah, cant be, I can see my life flashing before my eyes right now ^_^;;



"Come out, James!  In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!!!"



*BLINK, BLINK*



RUN FOR IT!!!





All comments and such can be sent to me via E-mail at:  Mecvolve@onebox.com