Dark on the Outside - Chapter 15 by Ari WaSPG0LD@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- DARK ON THE OUTSIDE (insert disclaimers here) =====CHAPTER 15: DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE WOLFPAC===== "Big Poppa Pump?" Serena asked. "Who's he?" Mina asked. They were still out of sight of the nWo-ites when they overheard one of them making threats. "Scott Steiner. Obviously a member of the New World Order," O- wen said. "But what's with that giant red..." He looked up to where he saw the big red wolf's pawprint shining in the sky, but it had disa- ppeared. "pawprint...it's gone!" "Are they still out there?" Serena asked as they ran over to where the light was coming from. To their surprise, no one was there. "I guess not." "Well," Lita started. "They're up to something, and we're gon- na find out what it is! We better find them...quick!" ANOTHER PART OF TOWN, MOMENTS LATER The gang had pursued them for several blocks, looking for the location of the nWo-ites. Near a store that had closed up for the night, they found two very well-conditioned men; one wearing a white singlet with his face painted on the crotch, while the other wore a black tank-top with a red nWo logo on it, along with black sweatpants. He had long, blond hair. A third was with them, wearing black suspend- ers - complete with red nWo logo - and a black top hat. "Are those our targets?" Amy asked. "They sure are," Owen said. "So let's powerup and light 'em up!" "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!!!" "MOON DARKNESS POWER!!!" "MARS POWER!!!" "MERCURY POWER!!!" "JUPITER POWER!!!" "VENUS POWER!!!" "WAIT!" After all the transformations occured, a snag develop- ed. While Serena had become Sailor Moon and Darien became Tuxedo Mask, Owen had remained Owen. He looked at his hands - his fingernails their original color, not painted black like Darkheart's are - then the rest of him. He was still wearing his normal clothes. "What happened Owen?" Sailor Moon asked. "My-my powers!" Owen said, panicking. "They're gone!" "Gone?!" But before he could finish explaining, the three no- ticed them, and turned to them. "It's about time you freaks showed up!" Steiner said. "I just want you to meet a few friends of ours!" With that, he opened up a portal, and out walked a man even bigger than him. He was about 7 feet tall, and was wearing red jeans with fringes going up each leg, and a red tank top with the word OUTSIDERS in black letters. He took one look at Owen and smiled. "Hello Owen," he said. "Well if it isn't Kevin Nash," Owen said, unimpressed. "I should've known a coward would be hanging out with trash like this." "HA! Like those sluts are any better! And now, I'm gonna make you so, so sorry!" He lunged forward, but looked behind himself, while pointing in the direction he was looking. Then, another portal opened again, and a familiar figure appeared. "The Outsiders are back!" No doubt about it, the familiar face was that of Nash's old partner, Scott Hall. He paused for a moment. "Hey yo!" he said. "Surprised to see me?" "I SHOULD be!" Owen retorted. "The last I remember of you was a bloody mess I made of you." "Yeah, and I'm a little pissed off about that. But on to more important things; it's survey time." He looked around for a moment. "Now did y'all come out here to see...Sailor Moon?" "Wh-who, who are you talking to?!" Owen shouted. "Do you see anyone else here besides us?" "OR...or, did you come to see the-" At that, the sound of fans shouting "N...W...O!!!" could be heard; obviously a taped recording. "Survey says, one more for the good guys." "Are you finished?" Sailor Moon asked. "Are you gonna do some- thing besides talk or what?" "You're in for a fight, alright," Steiner said. "But it won't be us you're going up against." "How'd I guess..." Tuxedo Mask said. "Say hello to my little friend, the Disco Inferno!" Just then, another portal opened up, and a horrible figure emerged. He was wear- ing a black nWo tank top, with bellbottoms that were all red on the left leg, and black on the right. Even his face was scary (Remember John Travolta in 'Saturday Night Fever'?). As he cleared the opening, a small hole opened up above his head, and a disco ball slowly descend- ed. And then, he started dancing. Before he started, though, a funky beat - typical of the disco era - started to play. It had apparantly been written in homage to him. The singing was horrendus and so were the lyrics: "Disco fever! Disco fever! Disco fever, yeah yeah yeah yeah! Disco fever! Disco fever! Disco fever, yeah yeah yeah yeah! "He's so cocky, he's so cool! He's just a disco dancing fool! When he steps out on the floor, The girls are screamin' "We want more more more! The Scouts and Owen just stood there, bewildered. They didn't know what to do; all the Disco Inferno did was dance. No attacks, just dancing. Owen looked over at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. ~You wanna take him out or do you want me to?~ he whispered. When they looked o- ver at him again, he had spun around and struck a pose. Tuxedo Mask took the opportunity to throw a rose at the little portal that the dis- co ball was hanging out of. The rose and the hole shorted out and dis- appeared, and the ball dropped onto Disco Inferno's head. He staggered around, hands flying out in front of him. "It's an improvement," Mars said. "And now to turn you into a REAL Disco Inferno! Mars celestial fire...SURROUND!" No sooner than Mars finished pronouncing 'surround' than the Disco Inferno, still with a disco ball on his head, became engulfed in flames from head to toe. He ran around franticly "Okay, enough fun and games," Nash said. "It's time to get se- rious!" But then, Owen kicked him right in his mouth. "Shut up!" he said, not knowing that Scott Hall was sneaking up behind him. He didn't notice it until he found him back to back with Hall, his hands lifting him up above his head by his armpits. Then, Scott Hall fell forward, dropping Owen right on his back, a move called the Outsiders' Edge. Owen rolled on the ground a little in pain. Just then, Sailor Moon drew her moon scepter. "You're gonna pay for that one! Moon scepter...ELIMINATION!!!" As Owen got up, he noticed Sailor Moon had precisely obliterated Kevin Nash...after Scott Hall cowardly ducked out of the way. He was about to get away, when the Disco Inferno stumbled in his way, knocking him down. "I'll handle this guy," Owen said, as his eyes turned light blue. "FROSTBITE!!!" Owen stretched his hands out, and a blue fog en- gulfed Disco Inferno. When it receded, Disco had turned into a pale blue shell of himself. Seconds later, it cracked up, and fell into a lifeless pile of ice fragments, falling in the shape of the nWo logo. "Thanks for stoppin' by," Nash said. "Looks like we're out of time!" With that, he opened up a gateway home in the ground, and walked down into it. "They're getting away!" Tuxedo Mask shouted. But Owen had other plans, as he ran at the portal in the side- walk. "Not if *I* can help it!" Ignoring Sailor Mercury's cries of 'Owen, no!', Owen swan-dived into the opening, making a big splash on the way in. "Owen!" Mercury said. "Where'd he go?" "He didn't just go after the Wolfpac, did he?" Moon asked, looking at where he disappeared to. "I can't believe that! That damn Yankee is gonna get himself killed!" "That 'damn Yankee' is our only hope in there!" Mercury shout- ed. "Have some faith for once, Serena!" THE NEGAVERSE "EEEEEEYAAHHHHHHHHH-OOOF!!!" Owen must have falled about 50 or so feet straight down when he found himself in the Negaverse. He crashed down right between the bases of two winding staircases. Owen looked up at where he came in. "Wow," he said to himself. "Some hole!" Owen took a moment to observe his surroundings. Of course, it was so dark he couldn't see anything. "Hello...hello?" Owen's voice echoed throughout the empty room. "Damn, I can't see a thing!" He then raised his hands to his temples, concentrated, and a moment later, his forehead became bright white. The light coming from his forehead cut through the darkness like a bullet. When he looked around the main hall, he saw some rather...mis- erable sights: all sorts of furnishings, portraits, decorations, all in black, purple, blue, with a little bit of green for good measure. "Ugh, disgusting," Owen said. He turned around again, to the stairs, and noticed a door a little ways behind the stairs. "What's this?" Slowly, he approached the door, black and blue, and reached his hand to the gold doorknob. When suddenly, the knob turned. Panicked, Owen flopped back-first against the wall, a shocked look on his face. Suddenly, the door flung open...right onto Owen. Little did he know, Kefka took a few steps out and stood there for a moment, looking around. "Where'd that light come from?" Kefka said. He started to tap his foot impatiently and looked around more. "DAMMIT!" he shouted, slamming his fist into the door, not noticing Owen's 'Ow!' "AM I GOING CRAZY?! WHAT IN...what was that?" Kefka looked back at the door, con- fused. So he hit the door again - no responce. He hit it harder - a- gain, nothing. "Ugh...I gotta take a break." Peeking his head from behind the door, he noticed Kefka walking away in a huff. "What's his problem?" Owen asked himself as he rubbed his head. He came out from behind the door, and, seeing that the coast was clear, entered the room. The next room wasn't as welcoming either. It was dimly lit via a couple of candles here and there, and several bookshelves laid again- st the walls. There were several more candles by an old wooden table, and a strange book laid open on it. "What is this?" Owen asked, flipping through the book. It had several spells in it, very unfamiliar to his brand of magic. "Demon eye? Fader? Chaos wing? Bolt fist?! I've never even heard of any of these spells!" Next to the table, there was a treasure chest full of strange green stones.... "What're these?" he asked himself. "I've seen these somewhere before now, haven't I?" Where was it though? He remembers it now. When he and Tuxedo Mask toasted Ifrit, he saw the fire monster decompose into a stone that looked like this, only gray. "Ifrit...!" Owen palmed the magacite and went back to the book. Demon eye called an esper named Shoat the boar. Fader called upon the Phantom esper. Chaos wing and Bolt fist summoned Maduin and Ramuh, re- spectively. "Of course! These stones are the source of those strange mon- sters," he said. Noticing a backpack hanging on a hook on the wall, he grabbed it, put it on the table, and emptied the chest into the back- pack. "If Sailor Moon gets a hold of these, we'll be at a HUGE advan- tage!" He headed for the door. "Hold on Sailor Moon, I'll be right there!" As he shut the door and headed out into the main hall, he froze dead in his tracks when a loud wolf howling echoed through the hall. And then the lights went on, and he found the nWo Wolfpac, standing in a circle around him. "Awww, shit." "You're damn right!" Kefka shouted. He was standing next to Hollywood Hogan. "So, you think you can pull a fast one on the Nega- verse, huh, you-you...kid sorcerer? You apprentice?!" "You got your ass kicked by an apprentice last time we met," O- wen said. "Alright, that's it!" Hogan said. "You've got on our bad side for the last time, punk! I'm gonna make you run the gauntlet of the Wolfpac! Who wants to go first?" "Allow me," Steiner said. He then signaled for his partner, Buff Bagwell to come forward. "I'm takin' you out tonight, son!" Bagwell said. "Cuz I'm BUFF and I'm the stuff!" He then did his famous "Buff Strut," which didn't impress Owen one bit. "And if, and I mean IF," Steiner said. "you get by Buff Daddy, you have to face" he flexed his right arm "the largest" he pumped his arm up a little bit "arms" a little more "in the world!" As he finish- ed his rambling, he brought his bicep to his lips and kissed it. But as he did that, Owen felt a force pulling him up, up, up again, and as Steiner kissed his bicep, Owen was engulfed in lightning and then dropped to the ground. But he got to his feet quickly. "How about this?" Owen asked as a net materialized in his hand. "PYROTECHNICS!" He flung the net at Steiner, and as it engulfed him, he froze in place, the net taking the form of assorted fireworks, bot- tle rockets, and other pyrotechnics. At the other end, Owen was hold- ing the exposed copper ends of two wires. "Wh-what is this?!" Steiner asked, panicked. "Don't worry Pump," Bagwell said, "I'll help ya outta here!" Buff tried franticly to pull the net off of him, but Steiner was frozen in place. "I got your hook-up RIGHT HERE, Big Poppa Pump!" A moment lat- er, Owen touched the ends of the wires together, creating a slight spark, followed by a terrific explosion destroying Scott Steiner - and Buff Bagwell in one fell swoop. EARTH "Are you sure about this?" After waiting for a couple of minu- tes, the Sailor Scouts heard a loud rumbling and a black portal opened up. Sailor Mercury noticed it first. Knowing what Owen was going up against mad even them a little reluctant. "If we wanna see Owen again," Sailor Mars said. "Alright then, we're going in!" Sailor Moon declared. "On 3, we jump in. Ready? 1...2...3!" They all hurled themselves at the o- pen gate at once, and disappeared. THE NEGAVERSE It seems there must be a disturbance in the space-time continu- um, because when the Scouts got to the Negaverse, because what they saw looked like a tornado passed through there. Owen was on one knee near a man with long blond hair and more muscles than anyone's ever seen. Most of the hall was destroyed, while Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash lay dead around the room. Besides Eric Bishoff and Hol- lywood Hogan, only the big muscleman, Lex Luger was left. "C'mon! Get up!" Luger asked. Owen spit up some blood and answered "You can't do better than than that?" Summoning up his remaining strength, he lunged at Luger threw a punch...only Lex sidestepped the attach. When Owen turned a- round he then found himself being bent backwards across his shoulders, his neck and hips being pulled apart. But then, Luger suddenly dropped Owen when he let out a scream and fell to his knees. Owen saw that a red rose was sticking in his lower back. Owen looked up weakly and said "H-hey, you guys...." "Alright we've seen enough!" Sailor Moon shouted. "You let our friend go!" "C-come on, just go," Owen said weakly. "This is my fight." "You're one of us, Owen," Tuxedo Mask said. "It IS our fight. There's a path out of here just a little way behind us; get out of here now; it's for your own good!" "I can't," he said as he got to his feet. "I started this fight." He started to rush Luger when he wasn't looking. "And I never start what I can't finish!" Again, Luger ducked out of the way, and slammed both of his fists into Owen's lower back as he ran by, knocking him down. "That's it, I've seen enough!" Sailor Moon said. "Moon scepter ...ELIMINATION!!!" Within seconds, Luger became no more than a pile of ashes. With most of the nWo out of the way, the others rushed over to check on Owen. As he laid on his back, staring up blankly, he squinted to focus on the Scouts. He struggled to talk. "Wh...why is it that after every major Ne...ne..." Here, Owen blacks out. "It's his fault," Hogan said. "He was the one who was in over his head. He DESERVED to die!" Sailor Moon didn't know what to say or do. Those last words hurt him more than the punishment Owen just had to endure. She wanted to go and rip his black heart right out of his stereoid-enhanced chest. But she knew she couldn't. For Owen's sake, at least. So Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Jupiter picked up Owen as Sailor Moon said "You're gonna pay for what you've done to him!" A portal opened up and they all left one by one. "Is that true?" Bischoff asked. "You're bluffing! If you had any guts-" "A coward like you has no room to talk about cowardice!" She headed out but turned around to make one last statement. "We'll see you again. Count on it!" ANDERSON HOUSE LATER THAT NIGHT Still woozy from his battle, and trying to clear his mind, Owen went out onto the back porch by the inground pool and reclined in a cushioned pool chair. Still in some pain, he could do little except look up at the clear, starry sky. Just then, Amy came out and pulled a chair over next to his. "How do you feel Owen?" Amy asked as she gazed at his battered face. "I guess I feel alright," he said, still gazing up at the sky. "You guess, that's it?" "Yeah." He looked over at her, trying to focus out of his very blackened eye. "It's a nice night, huh?" "Yeah." "It's always a relaxing site. Lita and I, back home, we used to go nightswimming and...watch the stars later that night; I find the stars...very romantic." For a moment, Amy let out a slight 'wow' in a- greement. "Amazing," she started. "I never thought I'd hear someone like you - I mean, just one look and I'd imagine someone like you would be a foul-mouthed, beer-guzzling, egotistical jerk. You're like no one I've ever met before." He didn't know why, or what caused it, but Amy's words brought a smile upon Owen's face. Thus, he was at a loss for words. "Thanks Amy. That really means a lot to me. I'm serious." "I know." Unconsciously, Amy snuggled closer to Owen, while O- wen draped his left arm around her shoulders as they continued to stare at the beautiful, starry night. =====TO BE CONTINUED===== Hey guess what? I've been getting a lot more positive feedback from all of my stories lately, especially my newest fic "Sailor Moon 2050!" Thanks! This is going to be a little staggered publishing; one story might be out one week, I might publish two or so, but just be patient. So which do you like best? Let me know! Coming up on the next episode of Celebrith Deathmatch (Card subject to change): Beck Vs. Bono! Gary Oak & Team Rocket Vs. Ash Ketchum & the New Age Outlaws! And Tuxedo Mask Vs. Speed Racer!