DARK ON THE OUTSIDE

DISCLAIMERS:  If you've read any previous chapter of my story, you know
what I would usually write in this particular area.

=====CHAPTER 4: OWEN VERSUS KEFKA=====

AFTER SCHOOL
CHERRY HILL TEMPLE

        "Is everyone here?" a black cat with a crescent moon on its
forehead - easily mistaken for a scar by normal people - asked the four
girls.
        "We're missing someone, Luna," Raye said.  "Guess who."
        "Who?" a voice called out.  Everyone turned to look and saw Se-
rena approaching.
        "You're late, Serena," Raye said.
        "Raye," she said as she sat down, semi-whimpering.  "Don't
start that again today, alright?  I've had a pretty bad day!"  Raye was
about to continue the argument, but she was promptly interrupted.
        "If you don't mind," Luna cut in.  "We'd like to get this meet-
ing started."
        "How much do we know about these new guys?" a white cat asked.
This cat, Artemis, had the same mark on his forehead that Luna had.
Meanwhile, Amy started typing quickly on her mini-computer.  Everyone
looked on as they waited for information.  Then, she stopped.
        "Okay, here's what we got.  They're the Hollywood faction of
the New World Order; an organization hell-bent on controlling every as-
pect of professional wrestling.  They're leader is Terry "Hollywood"
Hogan; seven-time world champion, television and movie star."
        "But what about pinky?" Lita asked.  Amy glanced at her.  "The
guy who attacked us today!  He was wearing pink, with the...?"
        "Oh, him," Amy continued.  "Bret 'the Hitman' Hart; he himself
a five-time world champion, two-time United States champion, television
star, cartoonist and contributor to the Calgary Sun newspaper.  He's
not in the nWo, officialy; just a tagalong."
        "Needless to say we gotta watch out for them.  We don't know
how many others will be next," Mina said.  "But what about Owen?"
        "Owen?" Luna asked.
        "Who's he?" Artemis followed.
        "Remember two weeks ago when I said a foreign exchange student
was coming here and staying with Amy?" Serena said.
        "Yes, but I haven't seen him yet," Luna said.  Anyway, how does
HE tie into this?"
        "I ran into Molly a while ago, she said he was in her class
when the attack came."
        "I thought all the rooms were sealed," Artemis chimed in.
        "That's just IT!" Serena shouted.  "She said he shot lightning
at the door and escaped.  Then he showed up out of nowhere, lightninged
him again and scared away the Hitman."
        "What gets me is how an ordinary human can control that much
power," Raye added.  "How is that possible?"
        'You thinking what I'm thinking, Artemis?' Luna whispered.  Ar-
temis nodded in agreement.
        "Well," Artemis started.  "He certainly SOUNDS like a nice fel-
low.  I just hope that he keeps using his talent for the right side."
        "What do you mean?" Mina asked.
        "We gotta try and find out more about Owen," Luna started.  "If
we play our cards right, we could be looking at a very powerful ally."
        "No way!" Serena shouted.  "Are you serious?!"
        "But we can't make a decision until we get more information."
To Amy:  "Why don't you and Serena try and talk to Owen, see what hap-
pens.  If you want, I'll come along with you."  Luna looked down some.
"But if we can't be bugging him constantly or it may arouse suspicion.
He may even become paranoid of us."
        "Meaning he'd let it all out to you and he doesn't even know
you talk," Amy finished.  "Sounds great."  But one question from Serena
put a damper on their plan for a moment.
        "Hey, where IS Owen?"

MEANWHILE, AT THE PARK

        The only thing that could be heard in the area was the scratch-
ing of the graphite of a pencil on sketchbook paper.  ?SNAP!?  ...and
those few times when it broke.  One fortunate enough to look at these
sketches would find incredible detail, lavish colors, brilliant design,
and depth; lots and lots of soul in each drawing.  Truly, the artist is
quite a person.
        Despite being known as a tough guy, a powerful sorcerer, and
leader of a top-secret army, there was more to Owen Teei that met the
eye.  Sure, around everyone else he was quite loud and talkative, but
not many people knew that he had some rather dark secrets, brought on
by unpleasant memories.  Apparently, he has no trouble hiding it.
Throughout his life, he learned to tune most of those memories out, and
isn't reflected in any of his drawings.
        Owen looked up from his sketchbook to survey the scenery for a
second.  A quick glance, and he went back to drawing.  Any time he was
having a bad day or a hard time, he liked to go somewhere where he
could be alone and drew in his sketchbook.  Being attacked by forces of
evil and endagering his life qualified as such, so he needed to cool
off some.  It was unusually quiet for this time of day, but that didn't
seem to bother him.

        Serena, Amy and Luna looked around town for Owen.  When he was-
n't at Amy's house, the arcade, or cafe, they decided to try in the
park.
        "How could you lose someone his size?" Serena asked.  "We've
looked all over."
        "If he's not here," Luna said, "then I don't know where else to
look."  As she scanned the area, she was almost blinded by small, but
bright light.  "What is that?!" she said, shielding her eyes with her
paw.  They looked over and saw that the light was just sunlight reflec-
ted off a diamond earring.  But they soon recognized who was wearing
it.
        "Oh, it's Owen," Amy remarked.  She called out to him.  "HEY
OWEN!"

        ?RRRIP!?  Not expecting anyone to find him here, Owen's pencil
tore a hole in his portrait he had just started working on.  He nearly
dropped it in shock and turned in the direction of the voice.  It was
none other than Serena and Amy.  "Hey, how are you?  Come on over!"
Owen moved down on the bench to let them sit down.  "What're you two up
to?"
        "We've been looking for you, Owen," Serena said.  "Where've you
been?"
        "I just had a tough day, that's all."  He went back to his
sketchbook.  "You heard what happened, didn't you?"
        "Yeah," Amy said.  "So how's it feel to be the big man on cam-
pus?"
        Looking up:  "What do you mean?"
        "Come on, Owen!" Serena said.  "I mean, you got to meet Sailor
Moon.  Not a whole lot of people can say that."  By now, she was giggl-
ing and smiling at him.
        "More like fight beside her."  He rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm still hurting from when that miserable little canuck slammed me
into a tree."
        "Yeah, I heard you used some kinda magic or whatever on him.
Where'd you learn that?" Amy asked.  Before Owen could give an answer,
he felt something jump into his lap.  He looked down to see a small,
black cat with a small crescent shaped scar on its forehead.  "Is this
your cat?" he asked, scratching her behind the ears.
        "No, she's mine," Serena said.  "Her name is Luna."
        "Luna?" he said, picking her up.  "That's a nice name."  For a
while, the three talked on about anything that came up.  As far as how
he came upon his magic powers, he just said it was natural to him.
That was the best explanation for it.  After a while, Amy said she had
to study, and Serena was headed for the arcade.  Sure that he was alone
again, he returned to his drawing.
        "So what do you think of him?" Serena asked Luna.
        "Well, he's a nice kid," Luna said, "but it's too hard to make
a decision about him right now.  It may take a while."

THE NEGAVERSE

        A strange book lay opened on a table as Kefka wandered around,
looking for something he misplaced.  The only sound that could be heard
in the room was him occasionally shouting "Dammit!  Where is it?"  He
fumbled through a chest, and let out an "A-ha!" as he pulled out the
misplaced item.  The item was a long, hexagonal stone, mostly green,
with a red swirl and traces of yellow in the center.  Walking back to
the book, he laid the stone on the table and flipped through several
pages.
        "Okay, let's see what we got here," he said to himself.  "If I
apply the same energy-stealing methods that Beryl and her deceased gen-
erals used to feed the Negaforce, I should be able to awaken the Espers
contained in these here magicite shards.  It should work."  He turned
around and tossed the strange stone into the air.  Glancing one last
time at the book, he started the spell.
        "Inferno Power!"  The stone started to glow a blinding yellow.
"I call forth the power of the esper Ifrit!"  The stone spinned around
rapidly and hovered a small distance over the ground before letting out
a white flash.  When the light subsided, in place of the stone was a
large ogre, clad in a green tunic.
        "I AM IFRIT, THE FIRE KING!" he introduced.
        "YES!  It worked!" said Kefka, throwing his fist into the air.
"Hollywood Hogan thinks his nWo can conquer the world.  Not so."  He
turned to Ifrit.  "nWo stands for the Ninny-boy Wimps Order, as far as
I'm concerned.  Buddy, prepare for an attack; we've got work to do."
        "...YES MASTER KEFKA..." Ifrit groaned.  Meanwhile, Kefka let
out one of his wicked laughs.

ANDERSON HOUSE
THAT NIGHT

        Homework and studying done, Owen decided to just watch some TV.
He had helped himself to a drink and settled down on the end of the
couch, his hair not tied back like it usually is.  He turned on the
television right in the middle of an old Hong Kong action film.
        Owen had been watching the movie for quite a while, it seems,
because it wasn't until a car exploded when he noticed a light coming
from his hand.  He looked down at it:  his ring - gold, with a square-
shaped onyx stone in it - had been flashing white, then green, then
blue, then red, and then dark purple, in a slow cycle.  He knew what
this meant, but he was shocked to have this happen this far from home;
whenever his town was threatened, it started flickering in this fash-
sion.
        "Why is it doing this?" he said to himself.  "I'm too far away
from home; it has to be from within town."  At that, he got up, put his
shoes on, tied back his hair, put on his hat, and left.  Since Ms. An-
derson was working late, he didn't have to make up some excuse.  "Some-
thing's definitely wrong."
        Owen ran down the street, guided only by his flashing ring.  By
now, the cycle was quicker, meaning he was getting close to the prob-
lem.  As he rounded a corner, he came to the park.  It was deja vu from
earlier today; he was still a distance away, but there they were; the
Sailor Scouts, fighting a pretty pissed off ogre.  But who was that
with him?  A poorly-dressed Steve Buscemi look-alike?
        "Okay, okay," the guy said.  "So the Excellence of Execution
couldn't stop you.  He was just a flamer to begin with!"
        "So, what's your point, you wierdo?" Sailor Moon asked.
        "Let's see if Ifrit here can do better."  Ifrit stepped for-
ward.  "By the way...the name's Kefka.  Get used to hearing it."
        "We'll just see about that," Sailor Mars said.  "Mars fire...
IGNITE!!!"  A ball of fire spiraled from her fingertips and slammed
into Ifrit...only, it just stood there and got stronger from the fire.
He just laughed out loud.  "What happened?" Mars asked.
        "FOOL!  I AM IFRIT, THE FIRE KING!" he shouted.  "YOU'RE FIRE
MEANS NOTHING TO ME!  BUT THANKS FOR THE BOOST, THOUGH!"  He then shot
a huge wall of fire at the sailor scouts.
        "Whoa!" Owen said to himself from his safe spot.  Just then,
his attention was drawn to a red rose that just appeared between Ifrit
and Sailor Moon.  She looked up and saw a man in a tuxedo standing on
top of a lamp post.
        "Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon shouted, looking up.
        "Tuxedo Mask?" Owen said, looking up as well.  From his vantage
point, all he could see was the back of his cape.  "The guy with the
penguin suit?"
        "Tuxedo Mask?!  HA!" Kefka said, mockingly as Mask hopped down
in front of Sailor Moon.  "What do you hope to do?"  He made a fist and
four roses appeared between his fingers.
        "I plan to do a whole lot to you if you keep those comments up,
Kefka!" he said.  He flung the roses one at a time, but Irfit just shot
fire at them, and they incinerated instantly.  And for good measure, he
burned the rose stuck in the ground as well.
        "Is that the BEST you can do?!" Kefka said, laughing wildly.
"Gimme a damn break."  He turned around and started walking away.  "Go
ahead and do what you please with them, Ifrit," he said, waving his
hand.  Then, Ifrit curled up into a ball, and engulfed himself in his
own fire.  Kefka laughed to his scream of "INFERNO!!!"  It seemed that
the Sailor Scouts were done for.  It was over.
        But Owen was the last to think like that.  "I don't think so!"
His eyes turned from gold to blue as he cast a spell on Ifrit.  "You'll
have to do better than that!"  He raised his hands at the attacking es-
per.  "Counterspell!"  Blue lightling shot out from his hands and flew
towards Ifrit.  From the Scouts' point, all they saw was a big ball of
fire, then a big ball of blue lightning, then a laid out Ifrit.
        "Wh-what was that?" Sailor Venus asked.
        "What was what?" Kefka echoed, turning around.  Much to his
dismay, his servant was struggling to his feet and the Scouts alive.
        "STOP ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU," Irfit said.  "STOP ME TWICE,
SHAME ON ME.  INFERNO!!!"  He lit himself on fire again and prepared to
attack again.
        "Ifrit, Ifrit," Owen said to himself.  "Surviving one of MY ma-
gic spells!  Are you retarded?"  His eyes glowed a deeper shade of blue
now.  "Okay then, smartass, try and weather THIS storm.  TSUNAMI!!!"

        Not even the flareup of Ifrit's inferno could drown out Kefka's
sick, sedistic laughing.  Which was pretty amazing, considering that
everyone froze in place when they head a hollow roaring sound coming
from the distance.
        "What's that sound?" Sailor Mercury asked.  About to add anoth-
er smart comment, Kefka opened his mouth...and then let it drop to the
ground as he looked up over the scouts.  Everyone else turned to see
a 50-story tidal wave descending upon them.
        "Shit," Kefka muttered.  He and Ifrit were frozen in place,
just staring at the giant wave of doom.  Tuxedo Mask dove atop Sailor
Moon, while the other scouts ducked and covered.  The wave past over
the scouts, and crashed down on Kefka and Ifrit.  When they got up,
they discovered they were totally dry; as if the wave didn't exist.
But when they looked back on the other two, Ifrit was laid out and sm-
oldering, and Kefka soaked to the bone.
        Owen let his eyes revert back to gold as he walked up to Kefka,
on and over Ifrit's smoldering corpse.  "Man, you're just pissing off
BOTH of us today, aren't you?"
        "You're kidding, right?" Kefka said, containing his hysteria.
"You're gonna stop ME?!"
        "That's the jist of it.  Let's you and me fight."  He raised
his hands above his head.  "RUNE SWORD!"  Owen's hand glowed brightly
and flashed for a second.  When Kefka looked at him again, he saw he
was holding a long sword, brown in color and lined with runes from the
tip to the hilt.
        "You gotta catch me first," Kefka said with a smile.  "Haste!"
Red clocks flashed around Kefka as he started glowing red.  All Owen
could make of him was a red blur.  The last time he saw him, he had
kicked him in the back, causing him to drop his sword.  He got up, and
got his distance.
        "Gimme back my sword, Kefka!" Owen shouted.
        "Take it back from me, Owen!" he retaliated.
        "Your call.  BULLWHIP!"  A ten-foot long whip appeared in his
hands in a split second.  He lashed at Kefka; the first shot hit him in
the wrist, drawing blood.  The second lash; it wrapped itself around
the sword, and he easily pulled it back to him.
        "Now you're gonna pay," he said as he clutched his wrist.
"Prepare for your judgement!"  Kefka pointed at Owen, causing a bright
white ball of light to materialize above him.  "Feel the wrath of the
Light of Judgement!"  This light was so evil, that it could even put
people under Kefka's demonic control.  A ray poured out of the ball of
light, and right into Owen's chest.
        "Auuugh!"  Owen's body was engulfed by the light and glowed a
sickly shade of gray.  There was little he could do to fight it.  By
now, he was pretty woozy.  "Ohhh...starting...to get...uoooo...ex...
hausted...."  By the time Kefka turned away the beam, Owen had a glazed
over look on his face.  All Kefka had to do to him now was just tap him
causing him to collapse to the ground, unconscious.
        "Owen!"  The other scouts had been looking on the entire time,
watching him fight the demonic one.  They rushed over to him, and
looked up at Kefka.  Once again, he was letting out one of his infamous
laughs.
        "Don't bother trying to help your comrade, Sailor Moon," he ex-
plained.  "I've drained him of all his energy.  He's worthless to you!
And he was quite a bundle of energy I must say!  If you think Ifrit was
tough, wait until you see what other Espers I'm gonna be flinging out,
thanks to him!"  His manic cackle filled the air.  "This day is mine,
Sailor Nimrods!"  A black portal appeared behind him.  "Come, Ifrit!"
The two disappeard into the portal, and it closed behind him.

TEN MINUTES LATER

        The scene was the same; Kefka and Ifrit were long gone, but the
memory remained.  Owen had just recently came back around, and he was
still laying on the ground and in pretty bad shape.  Luckily, the Sail-
or Scouts hadn't let his side.  Venus was holding his head up, and
Mercury was kneeling beside him.
        "You've had your energy drained, but you're gonna make it," she
said, standing up.  "How do you feel?"
        "I feel like I'm stoned," he groaned, trying to lean up.  "I'll
be okay; I'm sure you've got things to do..."
        "Don't get up," Mercury said, pressing on his shoulders.  He
laid back down, trying to hold on to consciousness.
        "Sailor Moon," he said.  "We meet again.  Who are you?"
        "We've been looking for you, Owen," she said.
        "How did you-"
        "See, that's the trouble with you; you're a bright kid, but you
throw a little too much caution to the wind.  You're gonna end up get-
ting yourself killed."  By now, Owen had the strength to sit up.
        "If you stick with us, we'll teach you what you need to know.
We could really use your talent.  Now, I'll see you here tomorrow at a-
round midnight."  A business card with a gold crescent moon stamped on
it appeared in her hand.  "Just don't tell anyone about this, okay?
First come," she handed him the card, "first serve."  He looked at the
card; it was a crescent moon with the words "Sailor Moon" across it.
For a while, he just stared at it.  When he looked up at her to ask her
a question, Owen found he was sitting down in the park, all alone.

=====TO BE CONTINUED=====

        A little longer than usual, but it still works.  I've been get-
ting a lot of positive responce for my Dark on the Outside series as
well as my Sailor Moon on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch stories.
        Personal note:  School in my area starts in about a week, so
don't panic if I don't get a story out every week.  I will be quite
busy with afterschool activities as well.  But that's not meant to be a
deterrant to my stories.  Until then, keep those cards and emails com-
ing to WaSP g0ld@aol.com.  Guess what, those're my comments and I am
outta here.