Subject: Dark on the Outside: Chapter 5 by Ari WaSPG0LD@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 5: ENTER DARKHEART===== Still recovering his drained energy, Owen continued to stare at the index card Sailor Moon just gave him. He was giving Kefka a good beating, when he got serious and turned a bizzare light on him. Before he lost consciousness, he heard Kefka saying something about using his energy to call more espers. This was just one of the things that was on his mind after the battle. "What else could he try to do to make our lives miserable?" he said to himself. "And what's this about being under his control?" O- wen was dead tired when he finally stood up. He looked at his watch: 10:45. "It's getting late. I gotta get home." Owen crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes turned from gold to a light shade of gray. "Teleportation!" Just then, Owen's body glowed gold and a white, blue, green, red, and black ray of light went out into the night. Owen's gold form disappeared a second after. THE NEGAVERSE Queen Beryl and Hollywood Hogan plus the nWo were waiting for Kefka when he and Ifrit returned home after the last battle. As he walked out of the portal, the first thing out of his mouth was his sig- nature laugh. "Mwe, he he hee! The Sailor Scouts are on the run, people!" Everyone cheered at Kefka's remark. "You and your little pyromaniac did well, brotha!" Hogan said. "Isn't that right, your majesty?" "You have indeed done well, Kefka," Queen Beryl remarked. "You and your esper have proven yourself worthy." "Thank you, Beryl," he answered. "Expect to see more of them, too. I've gathered enough energy to release as many espers as I damn well please!" He became suddenly serious. "AND...I've found a volun- teer to carry the powers of Darkheart!" His manic cackle filled the air. "So where is this volunteer?" Hogan asked. As he finished say- ing that, a black portal opened up, and a kid stepped out. "Right here," Kefka said. He brought the kid to Queen Beryl and then took his place alongside her. Hogan was on the Queen's other side. "Welcome, my friend," she said with a smile. "Allow me to in- troduce myself: I am Queen Beryl of the Negaverse." She then motioned to her colleagues. "This is Hollywood Hogan, and Kefka, whom you've already met." "I am pleased to meet you all," the kid said. "I am interested in becoming a part of this...thing you have here." "This thing is the biggest thing in the world, today!" Kefka said. "Tell me more." The kid listened intently as Hollywood, Queen Beryl, and Kefka filled him in about everything in the Negaverse: the scheme of stealing energy, and taking over the entire universe. "Everything you could ever want can be yours, brother!" Hogan said, finishing the speech. "But how will I keep this a secret? People know me. I'm not a stranger, you know." "You will be able to lead your life as usual," Beryl explained. "When you are needed, you will be summoned. No one will ever even sus- pect a thing." "You can trust us, son," Hogan added. "We're your friends." For a while after, the kid just looked around aimlessly, debating with himself all the options. Finally, he made a decision. "Alright, I accept." Beryl, Kefka and Hogan let out a "Yes!" to themselves, but then regained themselves. "But what do you want in return?" "In return? Easy!" Kefka said. "You will follow all of our orders to the letter, plus another detail." Kefka started to walk a- round. "YOU are the leader of a group called The Unholy Four. In re- turn, you will look for the last remaining Unholy Four members." "I'll see what I can do," the kid said. "And now," Beryl said, standing up. "Are you ready to accept the powers of Darkheart, the leader of the Unholy Four?" "Yes, my queen." "Very well." Beryl raised her hand up high, soon followed suit by Hogan and Kefka. The kid looked up, and saw the symbols of Dark- heart, Darkmind, Darkbody, and Darksoul appear. Then, Beryl started to chant. "Darkheart! Please accept this earth boy as your new master!" Then, the remaining three shapes disappeared, leaving that flaming black heat, covered in blue, orange, purple, and black flames. Beryl pointed at the boy, and the heart slowly hovered over to him. Moments later, it flew into him, and disappeared. Nothing happened for a while after. "What just happened?" the kid asked. "We're about to find out if you have been approved or denied," Beryl said. "What would happened if I wasn't?" he asked. "You, would have, uh," Hogan said. "Died. We'll have to wait and see." "So how do we find out?" "You have to activate them," Kefka said. "To do so, raise your right hand in the air and say 'Moon Darkness Power.'" Hesitantly, the kid raised his right hand and started the activation. "Moon Darkness Power!" A purple lightning bolt struck his out- stretched hand, surging the power through his body. He glowed purple as he changed over into Darkheart. Slowly but surely, a purple sleeve- less shirt, loose-fitting black pants, and brown boots, cuffed just a- bove his ankle melted onto his body, taking the place of his street clothes. After that, blue mist circled around his upper body, and af- ter it cleared, he was wearing a set of deep blue armor over the shirt. For the last part of the transformation, a ring of orange flames ap- peared around his neck, and soon after, he was wearing a black cape, with orange on the inside. Then, after his fingernails flashed and were painted over in black, there was Darkheart, in all his power. The first thing out of Kefka's mouth was that famous laugh of his. "It seems as you have been accepted," Queen Beryl said. "But we must first test your strength." "Allow me, my queen," Hogan said, stepping forward. "Scott Hall!" Darkheart looked at him. "Take him out, brother!" Scott then stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. "Hey Yo!" said Scott. Darkheart reached behind his back and pulled out two swords, as he would have done on a regular basis. For a while, he and Scott Hall fought each other, tooth and nail. (Little known secret: Scott Hall's power lies in that long gerry curl hanging in the middle of his forehead.) After some time, Darkheart went to one knee. "Not bad," Kefka said, "but it could use some help." "I got it," Bret Hart said, stepping forward. He then took off his trademark glasses, and as they glowed, tossed them over to Dark- heart. "Try these on." With that, Darkheart glowed black for a brief moment, and resumed the battle with Hall. This time, Darkheart not on- ly defeated him, but obliterated him with a move called the Piston Kick. "I think he's ready, what about you?" said Hogan to the queen, as he looked at the late Scott Hall's dead body. "He is," she replied. "Now, for your first assignment. Tomor- row night, the Sailor Scouts are expecting to meet someone at midnight. All you have to do is find them, and destroy them." "It will be done, my queen," Darkheart replied. "Very well." She waved her hand. "You may go now." And with that, a portal opened up, and Darkheart walked through and disappeared. ANDERSON RESIDENCE 11:00 P.M. The only light that entered the guest room of the Anderson house was when a gold, shimmering figure appeared, followed by a ray of white, green, blue, red and black lights. As the five lights camee in- to the gold patch, the shimmering stopped and Owen was standing in its place. Owen's eyes reverted back to gold as he uncrossed his arms and sat down on his bed. He took off his shirt, his shoes, turned down the sheets, and was fast asleep in about 1 minute. As Owen slept, Amy peered into his bedroom and watched him sleep. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor kid; that Light of Judgement was like nothing on this earth. He almost died. She went into his room; he was laying on his stomach, sheets around his waist. She leaned over and, just watched him sleep for a moment. Then, she pulled the sheets over him, and went back to her room. THE PARK MIDNIGHT, THE NEXT NIGHT There was no one else there when the Sailor Scouts showed up in the same place as last night. It was quiet. The Scouts waited anx- iously for their rendezvous. "You told him midnight, right?" Sailor Jupiter asked. "Yeah," Sailor Moon replied. "You were there last night. But where could he be?" Turning to Mercury: "Was he asleep when you left Amy?" "He was out cold," Mercury said. "I think being drained really messed him up. You remember he didn't wake up until 2:30 in the after- noon today." "I say we give him about 5 more minutes," Mars said. "After that, we leave." She then turned around, and saw a stranger looking at them. "Who are you?" she asked. Everyone else turned around and saw a man clad in black pants, brown boots, a purple shirt, blue armor, a black and orange cape, and black sunglasses looking at them, a smirk on his face. "You're not Owen!" "Ah, so you are the Sailor Scouts, right?" the man said. "The queen has told me so much about you all." "And you are?" Sailor Venus asked. "Oh! I'm beign rude. Allow me to introduce myself." He then brought his right arm over his chest and bowed forward slightly. "I am Darkheart, evil specialist." He stood back up. "I see you are waiting for someone, yes? No matter. Your friend had to...cancel his appoint- ment on short notice." Picking up on what Darkheart was getting at, Sailor Jupiter charged at Darkheart. She swung her fist at him hard, only to have it caught in his much bigger hand. He flicked her fist downward, and de- livered a massive head butt, sending her down. "Venus Crescent Beam...SMASH!" Seeing her ally down, Sailor Venus fired one of her Crescent Beams at Darkheart. But he was ready for it, and he quickly threw his cape over himself, shielding the blow. "Hey hey hey! Slow down!" Darkheart said. "You honestly think I offed that poor yankee? Is that it?" He lowered his cape from his body. "He's still alive, he was just decommissioned." Darkheart then drew his swords. "You have started this fight, Scouts. Now, I'm going to finish it." He was about to set up an attack, when he heard a ring- ing in his ear. He put his hand up to his ear and waited a second. "I'm sorry, Scouts, but we will have to continue this another time." He resheathed his swords. "The queen summons me. We will meet another day." He smirked again, and turned around and walked through a portal and disappeared. After he left, the remaining Scouts rushed o- ver to Jupiter. "Are you alright?" Mercury asked. Jupiter looked up at her, a glassy look in her eyes. "Oooo, my head," she said, holding her head. "Who was that guy?" Mars asked. "Did you see him? He blocked my crescent beam like it was no- thing!" Venus added. "Whoever he is," Moon said. "We have to watch out for him. "But what could he do to us next?" Mercury asked. "I don't know, Mercury," Moon added. "I don't know. We don't know a whole lot about him...we'll just have to wait and see." =====TO BE CONTINUED===== So what did you think of Chapter Five? I'm so pleased at this chapter; I finally got to introduce Darkheart. I have been putting that off for a while, and needless to say I wasn't quite too happy a- bout it. I still encourage all the positive cards and emails I've been getting, so keep it up. Like I said last time: I start school thurs- day, but I will still try to get my work out to you people. Thank you and goodnight.