DARK ON THE OUTSIDE DISCLAIMERS: If you've read any Sailor Moon fanfic, you know what the disclaimers are. All characters in the Sailor Moon Series don't belong to me. But, there are some characters included in this series that I HAVE created and therefore I do lay claim to. I have also bor- rowed some terms from Magic: The Gathering, and don't own those terms. Send any comments you may have to waspg0ld@aol.com (No flames, please.) =====CHAPTER 2: LOCAL COLOR===== ANDERSON RESIDENCE 7:00 P.M., TOKYO TIME "There. That's the last one." Owen slid the last empty suit- case under his bed as he finished unpacking. All of his clothes fit nicely into the closet, and was able to fit some of the smaller bags in the bottom. The larger ones had to be slid under the bed. He looked at his wristwatch: past seven. Hmmm. He went to his bureau and straightened up a little bit. He did not spend a lot of time fixing it at first; it would just waist time. Nonetheless, he arranged the items there: hair product, bottles of cologne, whatever. Just then, Amy walked into his room. "Hello Amy," he said into the mirror, seeing her reflection. "Hi," she said, smiling. She looked around his room, noting how he decorated it. "Very nice set-up you have here." Along Owen's walls were several posters, ranging from Stone Cold Steve Austin to Sub-Zero and everything in between. One thing she noticed in particu- lar was an American Flag, hanging vertically so the stars were in the upper right hand corner. He smiled back. "Eh, just a couple of things from home. A couple of mementos, if you will." He turned from the mirror to look at Amy. So what're you up to?" "Well, a couple of friends and I are going out to the mall. You can join us if you like." "Hey thanks. Are your friends gonna be there?" She nodded. "Alright." "I mean, if you're tired from your trip, you don't have to-" Owen quickly shrugged that remark off. "Okay." She left, and Owen got changed. * * * * * THE NEXT DAY Owen walked home from his first day of high school. It was a nice, sunny day, but his black uniform made it feel hotter out. All in all, it was a pretty good day. It didn't take long to get things orga- nized, and the principal was surprised at how well he spoke Japanese. Such, he didn't need an interpreter. It didn't take too long to adapt at all; clearly, he was a lot smarter than a lot of people thought. Owen thought to himself as he walked home alone...at least he would've thought he was alone if two girls didn't decide to join him. "Hey Owen!" a voice called out, derailing his train of thought. He turned to see two girls in school uniforms. "Hey Serena. Hey Molly," he said as the two joined him. "Hi Owen," Serena said. "Where you headed?" "I was just on my way home. How about you?" "Oh, just headed down to the arcade. Care to join us? He nod- ded. "We haven't had a lot of time to talk, Owen," Molly said. "Well we got plenty of time now." For a while, they talked on about lots of things. Neither Serena or Molly could get over how big Owen was for his age, for a while. Owen though, just chuckled at this. "Your accent...Brooklyn I take it?" he said once. "Yeah," Molly said, a little surprised. "Were one of your parents born in Brooklyn?" Before he could get an answer, they were stopped by a short kid with black hair and thick glasses. "Hello Serena, Molly, huge kid," the kid said. "Out for a walk I see?" "_What_ do you want, Melvin?" Serena asked, a little annoyed by him. "I'm on my way to the new computer convention. What 'bout you two?" He then noticed the huge guy accompanying the two girls. "Oh! Hello, do I know y-oh...my...god..." Melvin slowly raised his head to look at the 6'2" 245 lb huge dude standing before him. He took a step back and started to tremble as he looked into the kid's gold eyes. "And who might you be?" the huge dude asked kindly. "Um, uh..." Melvin was obviously scared. "A-a-are you the new exchange student? That American everyone's talking about?" "Yeah, that's me," he said with a smile. He extended his hand. "Owen Teei. Nice to meet you." "I'm Melvin," he said, trying to hold his composure. As he shook Owen's hand, his mouth gaped open in a silent scream as his hand felt like it was being broken apart. After Owen let go - after what he thought was forever - he held his hand close to his chest. "Ow! That HURT!" "Sorry," Owen said. After that, Melvin started to ramble on - as he would later learn he tends to do - about America, how he never saw someone his size, and whatever. Fed up with his ranting and rav- ing, Owen then, in one motion, deked his head forward and bought his arm across his neck, giving the notion he was about to backhand him. Melvin retaliated by running away in fear. Molly, Serena and Owen just walked on. "Wow," was the only thing that Molly could get out. "He actu- ally thought you were gonna hit him?" "That wasn't my intention, you know," Owen said. "I just got tired of his Dennis Miller impersonation. Does he always go off on a rant like that?" "Sometimes," Serena said. "So what do you think of Melvin?" She looked up at Owen. "I think that guy's got some serious issues." They giggle at this remark. "Well, he's a computer geek, can't ya tell?" "Uh-huh. Malicious ramblings from the man who's been sitting in front of a computer screen too long." They all start laughing at this. "No seriously, I seem to be getting along nicely with your friends, Serena." "One thing, though," Serena asked. "Last night, I couldn't help but notice you talked to me, Raye, Darien, Mina, Amy a whole lot, but you didn't talk to Lita that much. Why's that?" At that point, Owen froze in mid-step. A heartbroken shudder escaped his lips as he hung his head down and shut his eyes. "No reason," he quickly said. "Look, I gotta go, okay? I'll see yas later." Owen quickly took off, failing to acknowledge Serena and Molly shouting "Wait!". "What's with him?" Serena asked Molly. "I dunno. I think you hit a nerve, or something Serena." "Why would he react like that? He seems like such a nice kid, too..." * * * * * The same look of worry that was on Owen's face when he left Serena and Molly stayed there until he got to the front door of Amy's house. The very name Lita sparked some old, unpleasant memories that he didn't want the world to know about. Similar memories had the same effect on him. Definitely Degenerate related. Owen shook his head, clearing his mind, and went inside. He went into his room. He placed his books on his bed before going into the kitchen to get a drink. As he entered the kitchen, he saw Amy sit- ting down at the table. "Hey Owen," Amy said, looking up from a book. "Where did you go?" "I was just on my way home when I caught up with Serena and Molly," Owen said. "Ran into this kid named Melvin too." "So what did you think of them?" "Melvin's...quite a character. I'm really starting to like it here, taking in some of the local color, if you will." Just then, he was reminded of something. "By the way...do you have a camcorder?" "Yeah, why?" Owen explained that one of his teachers back home wanted him to keep in contact with her. Something on the lines on what school's like, the people and culture. They figured a video would be perfect. Amy agreed, and they soon found themselves walking through the halls of Juuban High School. Owen seemed to know exactly what he was doing, seeing he was filming the halls, talking with some of the teach- ers, and a couple shots where he was talking on camera while being filmed by Amy. On one occasion, they were stopped by the principal, on camera, but Owen explained what he was up to. Other than that, the school filming went fine. Later, they were walking the streets of Tokyo, doing pretty much the same thing. Lots of people waved, said 'hi', smiled or cheered at the camera while he taped and went in some of the stores, shops, restaurants, and whatever. "I think I got enough for now," Owen said, stopping the camera. He looked around the streets, and something in particular caught his eye: tomorrow would be the grand opening of the new Dave & Busters To- kyo. Taking one look at an article in the newspaper, it reminded him a whole lot like the one in Philadelphia (except this one wasn't former- ly an abandoned warehouse). This thing is huge, he thought. It'll be great. And then, a grin emerged on his face as he had a brainstorm. "What? What is it?" Amy asked, looking at Owen, who hadn't taken his eyes off the building. "I got an idea," Owen said, finally turning to Amy. "Could you and your friends meet me here at 8:00 tomorrow night? I just found the inspiration for the rest of my video." "Alright," Amy said. "The gang back home is gonna be in for a real surprise," Owen started. "You guys are gonna have backstage passes when the Overtime World Tour '98 visits Japan." "The _what?_" Amy asked, dumbfounded. The only reply was Owen giving a strange smile and the quote "You'll see." No one could ever expect what he was going to do. Some would call it the work of a mad- man. The majority, however, would see it as creative genius. And now, for the rest of Owen's video... _______________________________________________________________________ | | | O V E R T I M E W O R L D T O U R 1998 | |_____________________________________________________________________| Darien: The ideas and views expressed in the Overtime World Tour are the sole opinions of Owen Teei and are not a reflection of the networks which run the show. Is that what you wanted me to say? Owen's voice: We got it...it's just your basic disclaimers. That's a wrap. Darien: Perfect. Let's roll. [INSERT SHOW OPEN HERE] [INSERT MAP OF JAPAN, WITH TOKYO HIGHLIGHTED WITH A RED DOT] [INSERT FOOTAGE OF JUUBAN HIGH SCHOOL] [INSERT FOOTAGE OF STREETS OF TOKYO] Owen's voice: WELCOME, EVERYONE, to the NEW DAVE AND BUSTERS!!! Owen's voice: WELCOME, TO TOKYO, JAPAN!!! Owen's voice: WELCOME, to the OVERTIME WORLD TOUR!!!!! Owen: Hello everyone, I'm "Overtime" Owen Teei and welcome to the big show! This is a very special occasion for two reasons; not only is the first time the D&B franchise has come to the Far East, but it's the same deal with my world tour. How 'bout that? Joining me at this time are my two wonderful broadcast colleagues, Owen: Amy Anderson and Darien Chiba! Darien: WOOOO!!! Amy: It's great to be here, Owen. The fans are excited, I'm excited, this place is just beautiful! Darien: Sure is, we were here before it opened, had the grand tour, if you will, this - you gotta get your asses out here. This is quite a star-studded event, this opening, I might say! I lost track of who's here! Amy: Nothing was spared to make this place great; the theater, the games, are MARVELOUS. Owen: And food! Don't forget the food! And with that in mind, let's go over to Lita, whose back in the kitchen with the master chef. Lita? Lita: Thanks Owen. I'm here with um what was it? Chef: Chef's fine. Lita: Okay then, Chef. So tell us, what do you plan to prepare here? Chef: Well I was getting ready to prepare a seasoned sirloin steak, here. Lita: Oh, nice! What else do we have here? Chef: Well, most dinners here come with your choice of two side dish- es, and this guy chose cole slaw, which- Chef: we'll get to later, plus the the steak fries. Owen's voice: Not bad, chef! Although I think you gotta little potato on the, uh, camera there. Lita: So how long will this take to prepare? Chef: Hmmm...I'd say about 20 minutes. Owen's Voice: So chef? Chef: Yeah? Owen's voice: We'll be back to check in on you later, our cameras back there are gonna continue rolling while your doin' your thing back there. Lita: Okay then, back to you Owen! Owen: Thank you Lita. I'm here now at the pool section, if you will, where Darien and Amy got a game gone here. Who's shot is it? Darien: Mine. Four-ball in the corner. Amy: Oooo...tough shot, Darien. Ten-ball in the side. Owen: Niiiice. Of course, if you're like Darien and pool isn't your game, then stop on over to the arcade section and kick back a while. I'm being told now that our very own resi- dent video game expert Serena Tsukino is back there, Serena, tell us: what's it like over there? Serena: Well Owen, as you can see, every- one's excited to be here, tonight, tryin' all the newest video games, having a good time and all! Owen's voice: What kinda games we got back there? Serena: Basically, games for all seasons. What we have here are the best games available today, plus some earlier titles that are still crowd-pleasers. Owen's voice: Excellent. Um, what're those really big machines back behind you? Serena: These are the racing sims, Owen. This one in particular, is my favorite. San Francisco Rush. Owen: Whoooa, hey, just how many machines are linked up together? Serena: Um, ten. Owen: Are...you any good? Serena: Yeah, and if I do say so myself, do you feel lucky punk? Owen: Does that mean what I think it does? Are...are you issuing me a challange? Serena: Hell yeah! Owen: Ohh, oh ohhhh...um... Serena: Something wrong? Owen: No, it's just that there's 10 stations there, you want this to be one-on-one, that's 8 stations gone to waste. So here's the deal; you get your people together, and I'll get mine, and we'll race 5-on-5. How's that sound? Serena: You got it! Owen: Okay then! We'll have that match right after this short commer- cial break. Stay tuned, why don't you? Owen: Welcome back. We're here at the new Dave and Busters Tokyo where I and some of my friends are gonna answer Serena's chal- lenge. I don't know who Serena picked, but lemme introduce you to my team, the Wolfpack. Kevin Nash: Hey yo! Wzup? This is Big Sexy here, hangin out here wit my boy Overtime, gettin ready to rush San Fran. Steve Buscemi: Hey how ya doin? I'm Steve Buscemi, I'm here in Tokyo, and I have no idea how to play this game. I'm sorry. Chris Tucker: Wazaaaap?! Chris Tucker here, and lemme tell ya, my boy OT can't lose with me on his team...HAAA! Better watch yo'self! Dave Letterman: Good evening, and, uh, welcome to the big show. My name is Dave, and I'm playing San Francisco Rush. Lemme tell ya, after playing this game, I hereby take back everything I've EVER said about New York City cab drivers. Serena: Not bad, Owen, not bad. But let me introduce you to my team, The Kliq. Shawn Michaels: You've seen me perform IN the ring, now you get to see me perform on the streets. And the Heartbreak Kid and the Kliq are gonna drive rings around Owen Teei and the Wolfpack. Gallager: Do you understand the concept of this game? Bombin' down the ever-so detailed streets of San Francisco at up to 250 mph., where one false turn of the wheel and you crash-n-burn! Now that is style! Those people at Williams really know what style is! This game is the very ESSENCE of style! Trey Parker: Owen you son-of-a-bitch, I'm gonna run your ass off the road and then I'll kick you in the nuts! Raye: The original idea was to get Matt Stone here, but he backed out at the last minute. Oh well! Amy: Before the race begins, let me explain to you folks how the scor- ing goes. Points are awarded to the first six drivers to finish. First place is worth 10 points to the team, Second place is worth 8, Third is worth 7, Fourth is worth 5, Fifth is worth 4, and sixth gets 3 points. Darien: As for seventh through tenth, well, you get the idea. Game: GET READY! Amy: This is gonna be a good race, I can feel it. Darien: Yes it is. It also looks like Buscemi's pants are a little too tight though, and he has a pretty nasty wedgee. Kevin Nash: Hey, thanks for that image, Darien! Game: 3...2...1... Dave: What is WRONG with these people?! Game: GO!!! Steve: God, how fast do these things go? Owen: Fast. Incredibly fast. It seems fas- ter in cockpit view. Steve: Wow... Amy: Pretty intense so far. Who do you think will crash first Darien? Trey: That would be me. Darien: That had to hurt. Kevin, Shawn, Owen, and Dave: YEEE-HAAAAH!!! Chris: Think my car's (bleep)ed up, man. Hard enough to stay on the damn road! Gallager: Look at all this detail! Hundreds of programmers drove all around this city taking endless numbers of pictures. Serena: Yeah, but if you've ever been to this city, you know what street's after Chinatown, right? Owen: Oh no... All ten drivers, Amy and Darien at once: LOMBARD STREET!!!!! Dave: Yes, Lombard Street, famous for its many DANGEROUS curves. Raye: I made it! I made it! I'm number one! Shawn: Sorry. Kevin: Looks like Owen's got the right idea! Maybe not. Owen: Awww, no! Come on! Gimme a (bleep)ing break, man! Steve and Chris: What the hell did you just say?! Owen: I said keep your eyes on the damn road, man! Steve and Chris: AAAAAHHHHHH!!! Owen: We'll be right back with more mayhem! Darien: The final lap is almost over and this one's gonna come down to the wire! Steve: We are the ten most dangerous drivers in all of San Francisco! Owen: Ha! More like the world! Owen: This (bleep)'s white knuckle tight man! Shawn: Come on Owen, I'm ready for ya! Serena: Come on...come on...! Shawn, Serena, and Owen: AAAAUUUUUUUGGHHHHHH!!!!! Serena: Yeah! We won! Amy: You won the race, Serena. Let's check out the final scores. 1: SERENA TSUKINO 10 2: SHAWN MICHAELS 8 3: OWEN TEEI 7 4: KEVIN NASH 5 5: DAVE LETTERMAN 4 6: STEVE BUSCEMI 3 7: CHRIS TUCKER 8: TREY PARKER 9: RAYE HINO 10: GALLAGER WOLFPACK 19, KLIQ 18 Darien: That was some race there, Owen! Kevin Nash: Wooo! Owen: Oh man! Right now, our respective DMV's are at this time revoking all our drivers' liscenses. Serena: Nice race Owen. Owen: Thanks. That's our show for tonight, goodnight everybody! _______________________________________________________________________ TSUKINO HOUSE 10:30 P.M. Owen pressed the stop button on the VCR as the video stopped. Local programming came on as he started to rewind the tape. "So, did you all have a good time? Everyone said yeah. "That race was fun," Serena said. "I'm not gonna ask how you got those four to be on your team." "They're old friends of mine," Owen said. "I can just imagine what would happen when they drive down those streets for real, though." Everyone started to chuckle at this. "They might have some kind of a relapse or something." By now, they were laughing wildly. "Yeah. By the way, thanks for those bit parts, Owen," Darien said. "Don't mention it," Owen replied. "It's safe to say we all had fun, right?" He started to laugh, and was interrupted by the VCR ejec- ting his tape. Letting out a slight "oh," he took the tape out and put it in his rahter wide shorts' pocket. "This is bound to turn some heads back home, right Owen?" Raye asked as he put away the tape. "Not as many as you'd imagine," he started. "Believe me, I've done some pretty off-the-wall stuff back in my time, and" he let out a chuckle "I've done some stuff so bizzare that people turned their heads so fast they got whiplash." "Unbelievable," Lita remarked. "Hey, it's getting kinda late, guys. We better get going." "Alright. See you all tomorrow," Amy said. Owen stalled for time until Lita left before he and Amy left Serena's with everyone else. All there was left for Owen to do was go to the post office to- morrow and mail it back to Dove Grove via overnight mail. =====TO BE CONTINUED===== So what did you think of this chapter? The work of a madman? A work of total genius? A brilliantly done star-studded event? Or did I just pick a hell of a day to quit drinking? Tell me what you think. I'd like to say that this is, so far, the longest - and possi- bly the most bizzare - chapter to date; possibly in the whole series. The two songs used in this chapter are "Fuel" by Metallica, and "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith; two great songs, both of which do not be- long to me. Send comments to Wasp g0ld@aol.com, and look for possibly Sailor Moon to make another appearance on MTV's Celebrith Deathmatch. Until then, later.