Dark on the Outside - Chapter 13 by Ari --------------------------------------------------------------------- DARK ON THE OUTSIDE (insert disclaimers here) =====CHAPTER 13: A GIANT PROBLEM===== CROSSROADS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL LUNCHTIME As Owen strolled out into the courtyard on the rather overcast day, his lunch packed in a brown paper bag with *his* lunch - a typical American bag lunch - he cautiously picked out a place to sit. He was browsing around casually, when something caught his ear. He raised an eyebrow and focused on the strange sound. It was music...American mu- sic. Now, this wouldn't have been very strange if he was back home at his Europa High School, ut, this was Japan; the only American music he heard came from *his* CD player at Amy's house. He could hear it clearly now. They were lyrics.... ...you're the murder in my world, dressing coffins for the souls I've left to die... He looked over to where the music was coming from when he fixed his eyes on the source. Amy was listening to her CD walkman while studying. He went o- ver to her and sat down beside her. He tried to get her attention, but she was jotting something down in her notebook while singing along to the CD.... "In you I see dirty, in you I count stars. In you I feel so pretty, in you I taste God. In you I feel so hungry, in you I crash cars. We must nev- AAAH!" "Hi Amy," Owen said, as he pulled one of her headphones from her ear. "Sorry, was I interrupting anything?" "Owen, don't SCARE me like that!" Amy nearly shouted, gasping for breath. "I apologize." Owen settled down next to her and pulled out a sandwich from his bag. "You seemed kinda lonely over here; I thought I'd come and keep you company. Hey, you sound really nice singing that ya know." "You think so?" "Yeah!" He picked up and looked at the case of the CD. It was a Smashing Pumpkins album. "Adore, huh?" She nodded. "I don't like this partucular album; some of the songs on here are a little too goth- ic for me. "'Perfect' is the only one I like." He pulled the booklet out of the CD case and flipped through it. It contained pictures of surviving band members Billy Corgan, D'arcy and James Iha, as well as other pictures, and the lyrics. He then fixed his eyes on the back of the book, and a poem about what one could do in 17 seconds. Owen read this over several times. "And what was that Marylin Manson CD I saw on your stereo?" Replacing the book, "Mechanical Animals? That's different." "How?" "It's glamourock! It's a lot better than that other gothic in- dustrial rock and roll crap." Just then, Serena came over. "Oh hey Serena. How you doin'?" "Hi," Serena said. "Am I interrupting anything?" "No," Amy and Owen said quickly. "O...kay..." Serena said, startled. "Anyway, are we all still on for tonight?" She was of course, referring to their arrangements to go out tonight, the seven of them. "Sure, at seven, right?" Amy asked. "Where we going to eat?" "Oh yeah," Owen said. "I got some friends that work at Don Pa- blo's, you know, that new mexican restaurant?" "Yeah? Who do you know there?" Serena asked. "One of the hosts. His name is Juventud." He put the discard- ed plastic wrap in his bag. "He's also one of the co-owners; he used to be a pro wrestler...a luchador." "What happened to him?" "Well, he did a move incorrectly, and...let's just say they do not call them 'high-risk maneuvers' for nothing." Owen stood up. "He had to get neck surgery and couldn't go back to work." "He broke his neck?" Amy asked. "Yeah. After surgery, it's known that your neck can go either way; it can be stronger or weaker." "Freaky," Serena said as the bell rang. "So I'll see yas at seven then." They agreed. "Right," said Owen. "Only one thing." "What's that?" "Can we bring Reenie with us? I mean, I dunno about you guys, but I feel really bad we're not spending time with her. I think it's effecting her recovery from that injury. She may become depressed." "Are you sure? She might get in the way." Owen shook his head. "Of course not. What could go wrong?" DON PABLO'S 7:00 THAT NIGHT As the eight of them waited for a table, Owen decided to kill the time. "I'm headed over to the bar, get me a drink or something," he said. "Coming, Darien?" He thought for a moment. "Yeah, alright." The two went over to the bar, and as they sat at the bar, watching a football game, they heard the barkeep call them. "What'll you two gentlemen have?" he said. Owen turned around in his stool. "Just a-" But then, he got a good look at the man behind the bar. "Juventud, my man!" "Owen!" Juventud said as they high-fived. "How'd you end up here?" "I'm on foreign exchange from America, man." "Enjoying it?" "Oh yeaaaah, it's going great." He motioned to Darien. "Hey, I'd like you to meet my man, Darien." "Hey Darien," he said, extending his hand. "Hi," he said. "So you're the luchador Owen's told so much a- bout, huh?" "That's me," he said with a chuckle. He moved over to one side and allowed the two a good look at all sorts of memorabilia hanging on the wall: pictures, autographs, his championship belts, and the like. "Not bad, huh?" he commented. "Yeah," Darien said. "I saw your last match, man. You had Billy Kidman beat! I mean, that was so...fucked up what happened!" "Last time I checked, the neck doesn't bend like that," Owen said. He looked over and heardhis party being called. "We gotta go, man; hey it was nice talking to you again." "Nice seeing you too, Owen," Juventud said. "Nice meeting you, Darien." They shook hands again, and walked off. "Teei, party of eight, your table is now ready!" Hearing this, the party of eight led by Owen went to the reception counter. The hos- tess led them to a large, round table, just a little from a wall and had a nice view. Even though she was making progress recovering - of some sorts - from Owen's inadvertant attack, she still had to use two crutches for walking around other than in the house. For now, they were placed under the windowsill. A while after they sat down, they were waited on. "Don't worry about it, people. I got it," Owen said as he paid the waitress for all eight meals and left a nice tip. "Are you sure about this, Owen?" Lita asked. "Would you all just drop it? Of course it's okay!" he said firmly. "And don't let me hear anymore about it, aight?" Seeing that they couldn't win this battle, they agreed to it. "Thanks for dinner, Owen," Reenie said to him. "It was good." "You're welcome, Reenie," he answered, gently rustling her hair a little. She giggled slightly. He then leaned over to Serena. ~Not even a hitch,~ he whispered to her. ~Damn, I'm good, heh- heh....~ The eight walked out of the restaurant and were greeted with a very unpleasant sight. A man standing at 7'4" and 550lbs. of unpleasantry. Clearly a member of the nWo. ~What were you saying about not a hitch?~ Serena whispered to Owen. By now a large crowd - even Juventud - gathered a- round at the giant...and the big mess of cars crumpled like pieces of paper, wrecked buildings, smoldering heaps of rubble, and just pure chaos. "SOMEBODY'S GOIN' DOWN!!!" The Giant shouted in his thick, deep voice. Everyone looking on - except for Serena, Darien, Mina, Lita, Raye, Amy and Owen - were intimidated and frozen in fear. They knew he had to be taken down; with the big crowd here, though, they couldn't transform and take him out. "Juvy," Owen called. "Take Reenie and get inside quick." Ju- ventud picked up Reenie and disappeared back in the restaurant. ~Now about these people,~ he whispered to the others. ~But you see,~ Darien whispered, ~there's a few more of them here.~ ~We can't transform without anyone seeing,~ Amy murmured. ~We need a diversion.~ ~A diversion?~ Owen said. ~I think I can whip something up. Follow my lead, everyone. I gotta plan.~ ~What plan?~ Serena murmured. "RUN!!!" Owen shouted at the top of his lungs. The people ran away, while Owen coaxed people into the restaurant. The others scat- tered into the side alleys, including Owen, leaving a baffled Giant standing there, alone. In the alleys beside the restaurant, the Scouts talked over the communicators. "I'm ready when you are, Serena," Owen said into his pager. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!!!" "MARS POWER!!!" "MERCURY POWER!!!" "JUPITER POWER!!!" "VENUS POWER!!!" "MOON DARKNESS POWER!!!" The Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and Darkheart returned to the entrance to Don Pablo's. Only, there was no Giant anywhere to be seen. "Hey Paul!" Darkheart shouted. "Where are ya?! Come on out, you giant fatass!" "Who's Paul?" Sailor Moon asked. "That's the-" Darkheart couldn't even finish the sentence when they could hear him shout "Up on the rooftop, punks!" Then, the ground beneath them shook, and the seven noticed they were on a big disk of sidewalk, floating up to the rooftop of Don Pablo's (since it was once an abandoned warehouse, it was a way up). They stepped off, and saw the Giant standing with his arms around his back towards the edge of the building. "What were you saying about calling him Paul?" Sailor Mercury asked. "I was interrupted back there," Darkheart said. "Say hello to Paul Wight. Hollywood's personal bodyguard. A two-time world champ- ion, and the largest professional athlete in the world. He's also the son of Andre Wight, a.k.a. Andre the Giant." "That's his son?" Tuxedo Mask asked, shocked. "Enough small talk," Giant said. "Now to business." He pulled his arm from behind his back, and to everyone's shock, he was holding Reenie by the back of her shirt, kicking and crying, in one of his very large hands. "Make one more move, and I'll throw her right off the edge." "Y-you wouldn't!" Sailor Moon shouted. Extending his arm: "Really Sailor Moon?" "Let the girl go, Paul," Darkheart said. "Your battle is with us; leave her out of this." "You want me to let her go?" the Giant asked with an evil grin. Before he could finish, Darkheart flung one of his daggers into the Giant's arm; Tuxedo Mask also through a rose, but it near misses him. This caused him to drop Reenie and clench his arm. Yelling 'Nooooo!' at the top of his lungs, Darkheart dashed over to the edge and saw Ree- nie holding on by a loose brick four feet down. He leaned over the edge and reached out to her. "Reenie, grab onto my hand!" he shouted. But Reenie remembered what he did to her, and stared at him in horror and confusion. "N, no!" Reenie said. "Leave me alone!" "Reenie...I know you can't forgive me for what I've done. But a lot of people are going to be really, really sad if you don't come home tonight." "How, how can I trust you?" By now, Reenie was in tears. "Trust me Reenie, your life is more important than mine. Now come on, reach out and grab my hand! I know you can do it!" Reluct- antly, she picked up her free hand. In doing this, she looked him dead in his eyes. And they shone with sincerity. "Reenie, please," he said in a soft voice. She reached up, and the two hands were mere inches a- part. And then, the brick fell out of place. Reenie screamed in shock as she felt herself falling. But Darkheart reached out and snagged her hand. Of course, next thing he knew, his arms were stretched out; Reenie was hanging on to his right hand, while he hung onto the edge of the roof with his left hand. "Reenie, how is your knee?" he asked. "I-it's been better," she said between sobs. Pulling up Reenie with his right arm: "Here. Climb up on my shoulders and get back up there." With a little more help from Dark- heart, Reenie made it back on the roof, followed by Darkheart himself. "Darkheart," Sailor Moon said quietly as the two rejoined the others. "Thank you." With that, she hugged the former deciphel of the Negaverse as if he was a life preserver. "Just doing my job," he said. He then looked over at the Giant who was pulling Tuxedo Mask's rose out of his bicep. "Hey Paul!" He finally removed the rose from his arm. "Is that all you're gonna do you bitches?! Just fling stupid little flowers and knives at me?" "No," Tuxedo Mask said, drawing his cane. "I can also do..." He charges at the Giant. "...This!" He swung his cane at the giant, but when he looked at his cane again, he saw he was holding half a cane and the Giant smirking, shaking his head and waving his one finger in an "uh-uh-uhhh" fashion. Which is when he uppercuts him and sends him flying into a steel chimney. The Giant laughed himself silly. "Lemme show ya something REALLY funny!" Darkheart shouted as he charged at the Giant, one of his swords ready to impale him. But, when the sword thrusted into the center of his black, one-strap wrestl- ing singlet, it bent in half in a right angle, right in the middle. "You should've stayed on the winning team," the Giant said. At that, he grabbed Darkheat by the throat, lifted him high above his head, and slammed him right through the roof into the restaurant and right into Juventud's bar. He and Reenie screamed as the bar was obli- terated. "Jupiter thunder...CRASH!!!" "Mars fire...IGNITE!!!" Sailors Mars and Jupiter put their po- wers together against the Giant, but he merely laughed and shook them off. To make matters even worse, he shot the same fire and lightning right back at the two scouts. "Venus crescent beam...SMASH!!!" "Mercury bubble...BLAST!!!" The other two scouts tried the same thing, with the same results. "You girls are PATHETIC!" The Giant shouted. "Is that the best you can do?" "Alright big boy," Sailor Moon said, drawing her scepter. "Let's see you shrug off this! Moon scepter...ELIMINATION!!!" As the Giant laughed his fat ass off, the laughs turned into a yell of pain as he fell onto his back. For a while, he lay there, motionless. "Did we get him?" Sailor Moon asked. "I think so," Mercury said. "He's not moving. Better go check it out." The remaining six walked over to where he was lying. The six stood circled around him, looking down on him. He wasn't moving. He apparently wasn't breathing either. "I think he's dead," Tuxedo Mask said, kicking him in the leg. Of course, this was a bad idea, as the Giant screamed, got up in a fat flash, and the others were flung in all directions. "My god, are you okay?" Juventud asked as Darkheart stumbled out of what remained of the bar. Darkheart looked up at the big hole in the roof which he made. "It's...just a scratch, son," Darkheart said. He looked up in awe at the huge hole the Giant made with him. "Man, did I do that?" Turning to Juventud and Reenie: "I'm sorry about this. Don't worry, I'll get the guy who did this." He jumped up and through the large hole in the roof. He was still holding his bent sword in his hand. Meanwhile, Reenie hobbled out of the restaurant, and looked up at the roof to see if she could get a better view.... "Over here, Wight!" The Giant turned around to where he heard the voice...but no one was there. He turned back to where the Scouts had regrouped and saw Darkheart now among the crowd. "So, back for more, huh?" the Giant asked. "Yeah," he said, drawing his good sword. "More for you!" In- stead of charging at him, he instead flung the sword straight as an ar- row at the Giant. Only he moved out of the way, just in time. "Awww! I missed!" "You have a firm grasp on the obvious," the Giant said sarcast- icly. "Well, I'm fresh out of ideas," Sailor Jupiter said. "Don't be so negative, Jup," Darkheart said, picking up his o- ther sword. "Always carry a spare. Besides, you might miss the first time." The sword flew like a boomerang past the Giant, and then came around and hit him in the back of the head. Darkheart jumped up and caught his boomerang-sword, and found himself facing the scouts. But the Giant wasn't done with him. "Darkheart, look out!" Sailor Mercury shouted. He turned a- round and found himself grappling with the Giant. For a moment, neith- er one of them budged, but the Giant let out a roar, and Darkheart was on one knee. "I'm gonna make you sorry for leaving the Negaverse!" the Giant shouted as he tried to put him through the roof. "I gotta warn you, Paul," Darkheart said. "You're the one who is gonna be sorry!" He fixed his hands the best he can so his palms were facing him. He murmured a phrase: "Hungry...mist..." He was nearly intelligible as the Giant had his hands fixed on his throat. "...mediation!" The Giant screamed in agony as Darkheart's hands exploded with a thick, green mist. The others watched as the Giant flew into a shed housing the steps to the roof, destroying it completely. "I am the MAN, dammit!" Darkheart shouted in glory. "NO ONE can escape my volitable mist of mayhem!" He led the others over to where the Giant lay in a pile of rubble. "Is that...all...you got?" he asked as he struggled to his feet. Darkheart grew a smirk at this. "Well well," Darkheart said. "I see you're getting a second wind...alright then, well here comes MY second wind!" He held his hands close together - but not touching - as a green light started to glow in his hand. "Hungry mist...MEDIATION!!!" As he pushed the fog at the Giant, he screamed as he was engulfed in a thick green fog. The next thing they heard was a crushing sound, just before the mist cloud cleared. And when it did, there were random body parts and blood laid out in the shape of an nWo logo. "Well, that takes care of that," Sailor Moon said. "Nice job, Owen!" "Thanks. Now let's get the hell outta here!" With that, the seven jumped off the roof, and onto the sidewalk in front of the rest- aurant. Reenie was the first person they saw...except for Owen. The others warned him not to revert here, but he didn't notice that Reenie was looking at him when he did. "So what do you say we head over to the..." Out of the corner of his eye when he was talking, he saw Reenie. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. "Oh...." "Y-you're...Darkheart?" she asked weakly, tears filling up in- side of her. With no way to talk himself out of it, he turned his head away and hung it. "I am indeed Darkheart, Reenie," he said sadly. Reenie had fo- cused on Owen so much that she didn't notice it when the others revert- ed to their original forms. "The same Darkheart," a tear formed in his eye, "that nearly took your life last time we met." "How could you do that to me?" Reenie asked, almost crying. "I thought you were my friend!" "Reenie, please calm down. I'm still your friend, Owen." He reached his hand out to her, but she hit it away. "NO! Get away from me! I hate you!" She started away from the crowd. "I don't wanna see you again!" Owen watched sadly as she hobbled off, and as she got further from his site, he sighed and hung his head in digress. "Reenie...." =====TO BE CONTINUED=====