Dark on the Outside - Chapter 9 by Ari WaSPG0LD@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- DARK ON THE OUTSIDE (insert disclaimers here) "For the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching around the world, ladies and gentlemen, LLLLLLLLLLLLLLETS GET RRRRREADY TO RUM- BLLLLLLLLLEE!!!!!" -Michael Buffer, Ring Anouncer =====CHAPTER 9: SAILOR MOON VERSUS DARKHEART===== A sudden rush of reality hitting her like a ton of bricks, Sai- lor Moon sunk down to her knees and started crying. "What have I done, what have I DONE?!" "What's wrong, Sailor Moon?" Mars asked, helping her up. Moon had trouble standing up straight as she was lifted to her feet. "You alright?" "I...I don't know," she stammered out. "I'm not sure I can beat him." "Sure you can, Sailor Moon," Jupiter reassured. "If you can't, then what do you call what you what you did the other night?" She cou- ldn't give a responce. "You have the power to beat him, Sailor Moon, even without our help," Venus said. "He's given you a week to get ready for the fight. That can prove to be a mistake." "How?" "We'll make it one," Mars said, a smile on her face. ONE WEEK LATER... Despite the training and conditioning she went through in the past week, Sailor Moon still couldn't help but be a little tense about what could be her final battle. Apparently, when she assaulted Dark- heart about a week ago, it had been passed it off as an adrenaline rush. She waited anxiously in the park - the appointed spot - for his arrival. Sure, the other Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask would be cheer- ing for her, there was just something about fighting by herself that made her uncomfortable. THE NEGAVERSE As Sailor Moon's image waiting for her foe appeared in front of Darkheart's face, he mentally prepared himself. After several moments of deep concentration, he shut the image and started to leave. But, he wondered, what is Kefka up to? Kefka saw Darkheart about to leave, but that didn't stop him from wanting to destroy Sailor Moon on his terms. He held in his hand another one of those strange green stones - the same one that spawned Ifrit, Siren, and all of his other esper minions. He threw the stone into the air. "GEM DUST POWER! Esper known as Shiva, come before me!" When the transformation ended, a blue fairy, about 5 feet tall with a pair of wings resembling those of a butterfly, floated above them before landing at Kefka's feet. "What the hell is this?" Darkheart asked, seeing the fairy. "Oh, her?" Kefka said. "She's going out there to destory Sai- lor Moon, that's all. Think of this as a night off for ya, son." He then opened up a portal for Shiva. "Sorry, but I don't back down from fights like this," Darkheart retaliated. "Outta my way!" He approached the portal which Shiva was blocking, but a quick blast from the blue pixie and Darkheart found himself frozen in a thick block of ice encasing everything except his armor-covered shoulders. "Urrrgh!" he struggled. "L-lemme outta this thing! HEY!!!" But Shiva simply ignored his demands and disappeared into the portal, leaving him to fend for himself. BACK IN THE PARK "Get ready, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask shouted as a black portal opened up. Sailor Moon readied herself for the battle for Darkheart, but it wasn't Darkheart who exited the portal. "Who are you?" she asked the fairy. "I am Shiva, queen of ice!" the esper said. "I am here to put you to rest!" "Who the HELL do you think you are?!" Jupiter shouted. Sudden- ly, Shiva raised a hand, causing a blue wind to blow over the Scouts. After it passed, they realized that they were in blocks of ice up to their shoulders. She then looked coldly at Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon, you will not be so fortunate," Shiva said. Sail- or Moon could feel the cold raidiating off her body, and became even colder when a black portal opened behind the esper. "What the-" Shiva said as the portal opened. But she oculd on- ly get a quick glance at the man flying out of the portal. As if they needed to be told, the man was Darkheart. "PISTON KICKS!!!" In about 5 seconds, Shiva was rocked with a- bout 60 or so kicks to her entire body. The force was so great, that when the attack ended, the fairy's battered, bleeding, bruised and dead body just collapsed. Seconds later, her body glowed yellow, and the stone which created her took her place. Darkheart saw this and crused the stone under his boot. "I'm sorry for that inconvience, Sailor Moon," Darkheart said as he dusted a piece of ice off his armor. "Apparently the good folks back at the Negaverse have some kinda problem with my work ethics." "So are we gonna do this or not?" Sailor Moon asked impatient- ly. "Now, now, just hold on a second," he said. "There are a few things I forgot to discuss at our last meeting." As he pushed his sun- glasses up with his finger, she could see her worried expression re- flecting off his black painted fingernail. "What are you talking about?" Sailor Mercury asked. "Just stay still, quicksilver," he said to the frozen scout. "Now then...it's your standard deathmatch; last one alive wins. But the REAL fun comes in what happens to the winner. If *I* win, the Sai- lor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask will serve the Negaverse forever." "And what if *I* win?" "If YOU win..." He adjusted his glasses. "The Queen and her court are prepared to discuss terms of surrender with you girls." Her eyes lighted up at this remark. "And now, let's get it on." He then shoved Sailor Moon down to the ground. He watched her struggle to her feet. "Your move." After she heard this, she delivered a nice spin kick to Darkheart's face. He reeled back several steps, but after re- covering, he drew his katanas from behind his back and prepared to fight. It was going to be a long night for both Sailor Moon and Dark- heart. The battle raged on for more than a half hour, with neiter one being able to put the other one away. Each one threw everything they had at one another, but it seemed to do nothing. Sailor Moon let loose with some of her magic attacks, while the dark one flung daggers - each black with a red and blue handle - in all directions, as well as one of his trademark blue roses now and then. When one missed and it hit a tree, the tree immediately started to wither and die. Darkheart had her going for a while, but then came a huge turning point in the bat- tle. While recovering from an attack, he saw the same pink-haired little girl he shelved a while ago hobbling along in the distance. He saw her look directly at him. "Sailor Moon!" she shouted. "NO!" he shouted back. Sailor Moon looked over and saw Reenie standing some distance away. But what was Darkheart up to? "Sailor Moon, get him now!" Mars shouted from her prison of ice. Moon looked back and nooded. "Get outta here kid, this is too dangerous!" Darkheart shouted to Reenie. When he looked back at Sailor Moon, he saw her getting rea- dy to fling her tiara at him. He pointed at the child. "Shield." A small circle flash around her for a split second, then disappeared. But then he turned back to see Sailor Moon about to fling her tiara at him. "Moon tiara...MAGIC!" The glowing disk flew at Darkheart at light speed, however he was able to defend against it quite easily. He threw his cape over himself and let the tiara bounce off it. But it took a different course...right at Reenie. But fortunately, the shield Darkheart put on her easily reflec- ted the tiara harmlessly away from her. He breathed a sigh of relief, which turned into a gasp for breath as Sailor Moon tackled him. More blows were exchanged between the two, which was interrupted by a panic- ky mob running their direction. "What the-" Darkheart asked. "We're under attack!" one man shouted. Sailor Moon glanced o- ver at her still frozen friends. "They stay put, scout," Darkheart said. "What?!" she asked. "How could you do that? Don't you have a- ny heart at all?!" Then, it clicked inside of him. They tried to keep him from honoring his part of a bargain - a fight he was certain he could win - just to suit their enormous egos, something else that detested him to the very bone. What's good for the negagoose is good for the negagan- der, he thought. Darkheart raised his hand to where the remaining scouts and Tuxedo Mask were, gave a mental command, and watched as the ice melted away. "Go, destroy whoever's terrorizing downtown." They didn't have to be told twice. Twenty minutes later, the Scouts returned to the place where Sailor Moon and Darkheart were fighting...and Sailor Moon was in a bad postiton. It was dark out now, but the Scouts could still see their leader down on her stomack, with Darkheart standing over her, watching her try to crawl away. He held one of his swords right in the center of her back, which made her stop right in her tracks. "Anything you wanna say before I end your misery?" he said. Sailor Moon guessed that one slight move and he would impale her on that sword of his. She could feel the cold, thin, sharp blade of that katana blade through her uniform. A feeling which chilled her to the bone. All of a sudden, she noticed a few feet in front of her, one of Darkheart's throwing knives which had gone astray. Then, the wheels in her head started to turn. "Y-you," she started. "You'll never win, Darkheart, no matter what happens." "Uh-oh!" he retaliated. He raised his sword for the kill shot. "Wrong answer." He brought his sword down hard onto the Scout. The only problem is she had scrambled out of the way, and the sword hit the ground right between her ankles. When he looked up to swing again, he saw her plunge one of his own knives right into his knee, splitting his kneecap in half, causing him to fall to his good knee. He struggled to pull out the dagger. "No, it is *I* who'll end YOUR misery!" Sailor Moon shouted as she got some distance between him and her. She pointed her Moon Scepter at him as he managed to pull the knife out his knee. "Moon scepter... ELIMINATION!!!" The magic made a beeline right for the weakened Dark- heart. But he always seemed to be a step ahead of her. "Not really. INVERSION!" He held out a hand, and a black energy force appeared a distance in front of him. As the elimination crossed it, it turned deep purple and sprayed right at his bad knee. They both watched as the wound disappeared and his knee healed. He stood up, a wicked smile on his face. "It's over for you," he said as he drew another rose. He flung the rose at her. "Your life ends HERE!" He watched as the rose sailed merrily to Sailor Moon, sticking in her forearm as she tried to shield herself from the attack. She wasn't ready for how much force was be- hind the throw, and she fell down. All Darkheart did was laugh when the deadly flower stuck in her arm and waited for her body to rot away and die. His head was thrown back and his laugh echoed all over town. But when he looked over at Sailor Moon, he saw she wasn't rotting away...or dead, for that matter. As a matter of fact, white sparkles started spinning around the flower and made it turn red and bloom twice as big as it previously was. Darkheart was stunned. He knew he was beat. "Wh-what is this?" he asked. Sailor Moon raised her arm to look at the rose sticking out of her arm. "I...I've never ever seen anything like this in my life." He approached the Scout. Even though he was wearing his sunglasses, Sailor Moon could see that he wasn't go- ing to hurt her. He then reached down and picked the rose off of her arm. "There is nothing I can do against such power. It may seem to you I can easily destroy you and your friends, but your power far sur- passes mine, as well as the entire Negaverse. Beryl, Hogan, Kefka, they're all afraid of you. All their power comes from hatred. Yours come from love, I can tell. Love is so much stronger I don't even know why they even bother trying to destroy you. Which is why I could never beat you, no matter how much I try." "So, what does this mean?" Mercury said, as the others gathered around. "A-are you giving up?" "Yes. And now, I will leave this world...forever." "Where will you go?" Venus asked. "I certainly can't go back to the Negaverse now," he said, a little depressed. "But I will find somewhere to go." He handed the rose to Sailor Moon, turned around, and walked away. With one final look back, he said "I am proud to consider you friends, Sailor Scouts. And Sailor Moon, you are much stronger than you are given credit for." Too bad that his words didn't sit well with another particular group. It seems that Queen Beryl, Hollywood Hogan, and Kefka were wat- ching the entire battle, because when they appeared before Darkheart could get 5 steps away from his new friends, he saw they were quite pissed. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" Beryl shouted. "I lost, that's what," Darkheart said. "And I'm man enough to admit it, okay?" "But what is all that bullshit you went through just then?!" Hogan asked. "I TOLD you that this is my final battle, okay? And don't you have something to say to the Sailor Scouts?" "He's right, guys," Kefka said. "We gotta honor out part of the bargain." "I guess so." Queen Beryl stepped forward from the rest of her allies. "Sailor Moon...you better run while you can, because we're gonna do to you what we're about to do to Darkheart." Beryl only got a glimpse of Darkheart's shocked expression before she blew him clear in- to the Scouts with a blast of black magic. "C'mon Darkheart, get up and fight! You can do it!" Sailor Moon said as she and Tuxedo Mask helped him to his feet. "No, please," he said, groggy. "Leave me. This is my battle." "One thing that separates us from the Negaverse," Tuxedo Mask said, "is that we don't turn our backs on our friends." "Your...friend?" "Fine! Go ahead and help out that loser, Scouts!" Hogan shout- ed. "It's your funeral!" Not to be outdone by Beryl, Hollywood Hogan unleashed an attack of his own. He performed a double bicep flex, and suddenly, magic taking the shape of each of the letters in "Hollywood" crashed down on the Scouts. Sailor Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter fell down, while Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask and Darkheart were woozy. "C'mon!" Darkheart shouted. "Is that all you got?!" "It may be all they've got," Kefka chimed, "but now you have to deal with the Light of Judgement!" With that, he focused his energy, making that hideous light appear, and then pointed right at Darkheart. "Buh-bye, traitor!" At that, the ball of light pulsed, and fired a su- per-concentrated blast at the remaining three, covering everyone and everything in site with a piercing light, knocking everyone out. The last thing they heard was Kefka's laughter. SOME TIME LATER No one knew just how much time past when they came to, but one thing was for sure: they were hurting bad. Sailor Moon was the first to get to her feet, followed by Tuxedo Mask. Venus helped Jupiter get up. Sailor Mercury checked on everyone else. "Is everyone alright?" Sailor Moon asked. "We're alright," Mars said. "But has anyone seen Darkheart?" "He's nowhere to be seen," Tuxedo Mask said. He took one step and heard a crunching sound beneath his foot. Everyone looked down and saw Darkheart's glasses...what was left of them, anyway. "He shouldn't be too far off," he concluded. They looked around for him, and it was Mercury who spotted Darkheart laying face down some distance away. "I've found him!" she shouted to her friends. When they rushed over, Mercury was trying to roll him onto his back. "A little help here?" she asked sheepishly. With one big push, Sailor Jupiter, Mercury, Moon and Tuxedo Mask rolled his body onto his back, and reeled back in horror as they looked at his face and discovered his true identity. They all shouted in unison. "OWEN?!?!" =====TO BE CONTINUED=====