OUTSIDE Disclaimers: I don't own anything Sailor Moon, Pok魯n or Dragon Ball Z. This is a tale of the CWF. The song used is Outside by Aaron Lewis of STAIND and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. Rating: PG-13 (violence, language) Damn you, you bring me to my knees... All this time, I could take your place... All the times that I felt insecure... And I lay my burden out the door... TIME: 11:30, EST LOCATION: Biloxi, Mississippi It was late. The show was long over. The roar of the crowd was still ringing in their ears. Even as they lay in bed, trying to sleep. The First Family had been on a long flight getting into Biloxi for tonight's CWF Smack Down, and the flight had taken a lot out of Goku, Gohan and Ash Ketchum-Sonn. After the show, Goku took his sons out to get a bite to eat, and went back to their hotel room and were fast asleep in about 10 minutes. Despite all that, Ash lay in bed, awake, staring at the ceiling in the dark. Somehow he couldn't sleep. He couldn't explain why, but he just couldn't. Although he hid it from his stepfamily the best he could, lately, he has been feeling depressed. No real reason why... nothing he could explain, anyway. An uneasy feeling crept over Ash the moment he stepped off the plane and has haunted him ever since. He just wanted to know why. Ash looked at his stepbrother, asleep beside him. Gohan never had any trouble falling asleep. But then again...Gohan didn't have anything haunting *him*. He suddenly became jealous of him and Gohan's Jigglypuff and his Pikachu, curled up on the bed between the two boys. They don't have a care in the world, he thought. They don't understand. No one does. Ash flopped his head against the pillow, staring back at the ceiling, sleep still avoiding him. I'm on the outside, I'm looking in I can see through you, see your true colors Cuz inside your ugly...ugly like me I can see through you...see the real you......... TIME: The same. LOCATION: A club in town "Good show tonight, wasn't it babe?" "Yeah, you could say that." Tonight was a good night for the CWF as another good show in front of a sold-out crowd in Dallas went off without a hitch. Like most nights, the stars would leave to do their own thing once the show was over. Some went to various bars, clubs, or back to their hotel to get some rest. Tonight, it was a night out for Mr. and Mrs. Geron Kizan. Geron and Lita Kizan entered a local club at about 11:30 that night after the show. They had a rough night ? Lita in a very tough match, Geron flooded with legal mumbo-jumbo ? and needed to blow off some steam. So why not? they figured. "I'll go get us a table," Geron said, taking her coat. "Wanna get us some drinks?" "Sure thing," Lita answered. The two separated, Geron looking for an empty table, Lita heading for the bar to order up some drinks. A normal woman wouldn't go to the bar seeing the company that was also at the bar that night. But, Lita wasn't an ordinary woman. The company in question wasn't pretty. There were a handful of bikers at the bar, drinking cheap beer and wolfing down bowls of pretzels and peanuts like they were nothing. Lita quickly decided to ignore the biker goons and just go to the bar. Besides, they didn't look so tough. She could take down any one of those imbeciles. Lita ordered two beers and waited patiently. The bikers at the bar were becoming very loud and obnoxious. She was also starting to become really irritated with this one, who must've been the leader of this gang, apparently. He was huge ? not built huge, but fat huge ? a massive beer gut, a thick beard, black jeans with a biker jacket, and a rebel flag bandanna. He wore dark sunglasses, even inside. "Hey cutie!" the biker said, in a solid Southern accent. "What's a fine babe like you doing in a dump like this?" Lita scoffed. "If that's your best pick-up line, you're hopeless," she said, clearly uninterested. The leader's attitude worsened as his lackeys started to goad him on. "What's the matter with you?! I ain't good enough for ya now?!" He leaned forward on the stool. "What's your deal, toots?" "Oh, I don't know. Could it be that I'm *married?*" The leader scoffed, and took a huge sip of his beer, finishing it off. "A little piece-o-ass like you married? HA! He's probably some little geek - " "...that just happens to be a 4th-degree in Aikido and is skilled in swordplay, fatty!" By now, Geron had come to the bar, wondering why Lita was taking so long. He heard some of the conversation with the biker, and listened in. Now, though, he needed to take action. "You got a problem with her, pal?!" "Oh, no sir, Mr. Japanese karate man!" he answered, mockingly. "First off, I'm Filipino. Second, I..." Frustrated, Geron turned to his wife with a groan of disgust. "He's too dense," he said to her. "Let's just get outta here." The two left, but the biker wasn't satisfied. "Yeah, that's right! You best be stepping, chink! NO ONE has ever survived a run-in with a Ketchum and lived to tell about it!" Lita froze. Her blood suddenly boiled with rage. Geron saw her eyes become narrow squints. All at once, stories flooded her mind as to exactly *who* that name was connected to. "Ketchum..." she said quietly, her head turning around. "...as in...Ash Ketchum?" Her fist trembled in anger. Geron was surprised at his wife's sudden change of heart. He took off his sunglasses, and he had the same eyes as Ash. This only made Lita even angrier. "Why yes, the very same," the biker answered. "Name's Marshall Ketchum, the boy's father. You know the little bastard?" CRACK!!! From that moment on, it was on. All this time that I felt like this won't end... Once for you. And I'll taste what I could never have... It's from you. All those times that I tried... My intentions, full of pride... And I waste more time than anyone... Lita spun completely around at Marshall Ketchum, and smashed her fist into the side of her head. What followed was very brutal, and very disturbing. Mr. Ketchum was knocked out of his stool, and crashed to the floor with a loud thud. From there, Lita, in a fit or rage, dove atop the large biker and proceeded to hammer his face with right and left hands. All the while, she was screaming at the top of her lungs at him. "YOU MONSTER!" "PIG!" "HOW COULD YOU, YOU ASSHOLE?!" "MOTHERFUCKER!" were just some of the few things that she bellowed, in English and in Japanese. Lita knew the most about Ash's past, and slowly became angry and resentful towards a man she had never met. But now that she was face to face with this monster, all those feelings exploded. Others had gathered around the fight. His biker buddies did not interfere, for if a woman like that could do all this to Marshall, imagine what she could do to the lackeys. Marshall, now thoroughly beaten, was past being able to defend himself. He just lay there, helpless, as Lita punched his giant head over and over again. "LITA!" Geron shouted. He kept trying to calm her down ever since the first punch, but to no avail. Eventually, his arms locked around her waist, and she finally pulled her off a bleeding, bruised and battered Marshall Ketchum. She struggled to get free, but finally decided not to. "AND JUST THINK," she shouted, "THE BEATING YOUR SON GIVES YOU WILL BE A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE THAN WHAT I DID TO YOU!" She struggled under her husband's grip. "WAIT UNTIL ASH MEETS YOU; HE'S GONNA FUCK YOU UP BIG TIME!" Geron pulled Lita away, and out of the bar. Marshall was barely moving, his face a bloody mess. "Lita!" Geron said, putting her down. "What's wrong with you? What were you doing to - " "That asshole is Ash Ketchum's real father!" Lita shouted, on the verge of tears. Geron's eyes lit up in surprise. "That's the maniac that ruined his life!" Here, Lita just started crying. She hugged Geron tightly, crying into his shoulder. "Lita..." he said, "I don't understand...why has this got you all upset?" "Geron...there's something I haven't told you. But...I need to. It's pretty important." I'm on the outside, I'm looking in... I can see through you, see your true colors... Cuz inside your ugly, ugly like me... I can see through you, see through the real you... Back at their hotel room about 15 minutes later, Lita finally got to come out with what she knew about Ash Ketchum and his real father. She talked about her first encounter with the boy, and relayed every detail he ever told her about Mr. Ketchum. "How do you know all of this about Mr. Ketchum?" Geron asked. "The day I met Ash," she started, "he was all by himself. He didn't have any friends, he didn't have anyone to talk to. I asked him to tell me what was bothering him, but he just blew me off. Eventually...he just spilled everything forth." Lita hung her head and shut her eyes, a single tear running down her cheek. "It's so horrible knowing that such a great kid like Ash was the product of that monster." Geron took Lita's hand. "And you're the only person he told?" he asked. "You can't get him to talk about it. It's just that disturbing. And I don't blame him. It was so painful to me, and I heard about it secondhand. I can't imagine what he must go through." Lita started to cry quietly. Geron put his arms around his wife and held her close to his body. "Lita..." He sighed, and for a few moments, there was silence in the room. "What do you think he'll do now?" "He better stay away from him..." she started. "If he tries to get to him again, I'll kill him...I mean it. He blew it; he had a chance to be a good father to Ash and he threw it away. That's all there is to it." "What should we do now?" Lita sighed. What she had to do now wasn't going to be pretty. "I'm gonna tell Ash first thing tomorrow." She looked at her husband. "He has a right to know." All the times that I've cried... All this wasted, it's all inside... And I feel all this pain... Stuffed it down, it's back again... And I lie here in bed... All alone I can't mend... And I feel tomorrow will be okay......... TIME: Around 2:00 PM, the next day LOCATION: Local gym "Uwaaaaaa ? OW!" Gohan couldn't help but laugh as he watched his little brother take a nasty spill and crash to the floor. He landed right on the back of his head after doing what looked like a cartwheel, and just flopped down, looking up at the ceiling. "Um...little bro..." Gohan asked, approaching him. "What the hell was that?" He extended his hand to his brother. "I was trying out a new move," Ash said, pulling himself up. I saw myself doing the move in my mind a few times, but it's tougher than I thought. It came out...me doing a cartwheel..." He took a few steps back, and did another cartwheel...the end result being him crashing into the ground again. "Is that it?" "No! What I meant was I hit the guy with my hands and feet, land..." He kneeled once he got to his feet, "...like this, into an uppercut." Ash brought his left fist up in an uppercut motion, extending it high above his head. "Like so." "Oh. Pretty cool. You got a name for this move, bro?" "Satoshi-ryuken ? Ash's Dragon Punch!" he said with a bright smile. "Nice. And not the least bit self-righteous, naming a move after yourself." "Isn't it?" They didn't know it, but during their conversation, the door to the gym opened, and Lita walked in. She took her time approaching the boys, being respectful enough to not interrupt their conversation and the fact that they were on the other side of the room. But it was Gohan who noticed her first. "Oh, hey Lita!" he said as she approached. "Hey guys," she answered. The bright smiles on their faces brightened her mood. "Listen, Ash, there's something I gotta tell you..." "Sure. What is it?" "Um, well...I was kinda hoping I could talk to you alone...for a little while." Both looked over at Gohan, a bit unsure about his reaction. "Alright, I'll go away," Gohan said, shrugging. He headed for the nearest exit. "I'll be in the game room Ash. Later." Ash waved goodbye as his brother left the two alone. When Lita was satisfied he was gone, she got serious. "So what's up?" Ash asked. "Ash..." she started, "it's...I don't know how I'm gonna tell you this." "What is it?" Now Ash was worried. Whatever Lita had to tell him must be really, really *bad*. "Last night...Geron and I were out, and..." She paused, and took a deep sigh. Here goes nothing. "I met your father." Ash's eyes lit up. He let out a small gasp, his lower lip quivering just slightly. The thought of that man and what he did to him when he was younger disturbed him down to the core of his being. Although he didn't want to show it, fear gripped him. "Y...y...you..." Ash stuttered. "You...met.........my father?" "Yeah." She sighed. Ash looked like he was going to cry. She lead him over to where a few folding chairs were. They sat down, and she began again. "You know Ash...those stories you told me about your father..." "Y...yeah?" "When I saw him...I truly saw him for the monster he is. I never imagined he could be as horrible in real life as he was in what you told me." Her head was hung as she told Ash of her experience. Should she tell him what happened when he got fresh? Or will he be unable to handle it? She picked her head up, looked at Ash. His eyes were shut tight, tears starting to form. "You alright?" "H-h-how...how did you know it was him? Were you sure?" "He had...your eyes." Ash's face went blank. The image of his father's face suddenly appeared to him. And it was not a pretty sight. "He..." he started. "He hated my mother...he hated me..." Tears started to run down his face. "He did everything to make my life miserable..." "Yes, maybe...but still...you're a great guy, you know that?" "If you say so.... But it shouldn't be the way it is now...it shouldn't. Why did it have to be like this? Why does he hate me so much? I don't get it!" He put his head in his hands and started to cry. It was fortunate that no one else was around, otherwise Ash would make quite the fool of himself. "I don't know. I can't tell you the answer." She lifted Ash's chin so he was looking her right in the eye. "But I do know this. Even despite all you've been through, you can still live with the fact that that deadbeat won't ever know what it feels like to have a son like you." Ash stood, followed by Lita. He looked up at her, and suddenly threw his arms around her. "Thanks, Lita..." he said to her. She hugged him back. "Don't worry about it little guy," she said, rustling his hair. When he let go, Lita prayed to herself that someday, she would have a kid that turned out just like him. I'm on the outside, I'm looking in... I can see through you, see your true colors... cuz inside your ugly, ugly like me... I can see through you, see through the real you....................