Hey all! Well, here goes the next part of Dreams of an Angel. I have a feeling this is a bit short... hmm... though I'm not sure. I'm trying to make it around 25K or more every submission, which means around 10 - 12 pages, but eventhough this takes 10 page (including the intros) I can't help feeling its still too short. Oh well, if it's too short, my apologies. I'll try to do it better next time. Anyway, again, thanks for all the positive feedbacks guys. You let me know if its get too boring and I'll try to move the whole thing to another direction, okay? Cool :)
Onwards to the boring part! Legal matters! Hehehe. You can press 'fast-forward' now.
Well, first of all, this story, as you will certainly find out soon, is TOTALLY fictional. So! If any of you truly believe in it... well, my brother is studying psychiatry right now for his final medical examination in April, so maybe I'll just refer you to him. You'd make a good delusional subject. Secondly! None of the guys in the Backstreet Boys are gay! (No matter how hard I wished it :P). But nobody say we couldn't dream it, heh heh. Thirdly, Warren Worthington is actually a character from Marvel Comics, X-men known as Angel or recently Archangel. Okay fine, I admit it. I'm bored and I am making a pathetic attempt to make life a lil' bit interesting. Its not like I'm gonna publish it or something. What else to talk about hmm? Oh, there may be some adult gay scenes in this story. Unlike my brother, I don't mind writing naughty stuff ;) so! If you're underage, naughty, naughty! I can only ask you to go away, but I cannot do anything else to stop you from reading on anyway. Hell! I've been sneaking into the internet to watch gay porns since I was 13! So, if your parents or whoever responsible for you catch you, don't say I didn't warned you. However, if you're homophobic... well maybe I can seduce you enough to turn you around heh heh. I do so love a challenge ;)
Anyway, enough talk. Any comments or boos or suggestion or whatever, just sent it to the same address as in NNTs, goldenknightuk@yahoo.co.uk . Yeah, we shared the same address. Don't ask. Long story.
Okay then! On to the show. Now, don't be shy now. If you got any comments or suggestions, just drop me a note. You do the request, and I'll do the show.
Andy
"I'm beginning to feel this is a bad idea," said Howie as they look at the crowd bustling about the mall.
Nick agreed with him silently. He didn't say much throughout their travel from the hotel to the mall, as he was too busy trying to control his raging hormones as his mind keeps on being distracted by Warren's warmth as the man sat beside him.
'God damn it! Control yourself, Carter!' He scolded himself, 'Why am I so obsessed with him?? I've never been so obsessed with anyone like this before in my life!'
"Relax, D. Just wear your sunglasses and cap and keep to the shadows and you'll do fine." Said AJ.
"Geez! How did we reach the level where we have to skulk around in the shadow like thieves?" said Howie.
"Since we became famous," AJ replied.
"Guys, relax. If anything happen, Warren here can draw some of the steam off you." Said Jubilee.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" said Warren.
"You can take off your shirt and show off your muscle." Jubilee answered smugly.
"What am I? A slut?"
"Eh... close enough I supposed," Jubilee snickered. "After all, you've been having sex way before my age, right? You told me last night."
"Bitch." Said Warren.
"Ouch! Now, that's not a suitable attitude from a teacher to his student," Jubilee said sweetly.
"Alright! Alright, you've made your point. Now stop embarrassing me," said Warren.
Jubilee laughed.
"Warren 1, Jubilee 1"
"You've been having sex since before 18?" asked Howie.
"Can't help it. Women can't seem to resist my beauty." Warren grinned. Nick has to agree there. Women AND men!
"Looks like someone been baaaad." AJ snickered.
"Hey! I was 15 and my hormones was all over the place!" said Warren.
"Uhuh!" said Jubilee and Howie together, looking at him with knowingly.
Warren was saved from having to respond when the limo stopped and the chauffeur stepped out and open the door.
"You did say that I can have anything I want right?" said Jubilee.
"Yes," Warren said slowly, looking at her suspiciously.
"Well then!" Jubilee said, licking her lips, and rubbing her hands eagerly, a wicked smile forming in her lips.
"Oh God! I knew this is a bad idea!!" Howie groan. Nick sighed resignedly. "It's the Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera incident all over again!!"
"What? Why do you say that?" asked Warren confused.
"Man! You never, ever! Make such an offer to a woman like that!!" said AJ in a scolding voice.
"Because you ended up having to carry the bags!!" Nick continues exasperatedly.
"Damn right you will!" said Jubilee, grinning menacingly. In Nick's mind, the image of Jubilee vanished, only to be replaced by the image of Cat-Woman from Batman Forever, complete with her full suit and a whip wrapped around each of them. "Now, move it or I will create such a scene that will draw all your fans within the five miles radius towards you!"
There has been many time in his career as a superhero that he wished he was dead, but never as many as now. Warren Worthington the Third, a man who can have everything he ever wanted in this world, along with three member of one of the most popular boybands in the world, suddenly found themselves reduced to the level of a common slave to a shopping-fanatic 18 years old girl. Almost drowning in a world of plastic bags, the pack-horse-made-men stumbled exhaustedly along the mall, struggling to keep up with the shopping-frenzied she-demon known as Jubilee.
"I never thought I would be sick of the mall before!" Howie groaned. "When is she gonna stop?"
"She's worst than Britney and Christina combined!" said Nick.
"Warren, this is all your fault!" said AJ. "Whoever'd make such an offer to a estrogen-high 18 years old girl? Even my dad would be cautious about making that type of offer to my mom!"
"Alright, alright, I messed up! Happy?" Warren grumbled. "I thought I was being kind and generous."
"Will you men stop your grumbling?" said Jubilee.
"Jube, I think I've had enough walking for a while. Here's a hundred. No, I'm setting up a limit here on your shopping spree. Spend what you want with this hundred. The guys and I will wait for you at the food court." Said Warren, firmly pushing a hundred into Jubilee's stubborn face. "Go! Meet us at the food court in an hour."
Jubilee smiled and nodded.
"Poor thing. Alright. An hour it is then." She said before walking off into a store.
"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Nick cried out.
"There is a god." Said Howie.
"C'mon. Let's make it to the food court. I'm hungry." Said Warren.
The three of them made their way there and sat down. A girl came up to them to take their orders and went off again.
"Well, nobody notice us so far." Said AJ.
"Let's hope it stays like this for the rest of the trip." Said Nick worriedly. "I don't think I can handle it. I'm feeling a headache coming again."
"Oh man, I hope you don't throw up and pass out here," said Howie.
"What's wrong with you, man? Are you sensitive to crowds or somethin'? Because if you do, it'll give us a major problem for our future concerts." Said AJ.
"I don't know, guys." Said Nick worriedly. "It started about three months ago but it was not as bad as it is now. In the past, it only came as a mild headache and it usually arise after a show or a meet-and-greet. But now, my head feels like it's gonna explode everytime I go into the public. My mood, feelings, emotion all go haywire and when it gets so bad, I feel like I want to scream."
"Man, this is bad! Why didn't you tell us before?" said Howie.
"I didn't want to bother you guys. You all have your own problems to look into and Brian and Kevin have their wives to look after. You have more important things to deal with than my headache."
"Nick, you are never a bother to us. We're brothers right? How could you think we'd abandon you? That's really hurt, dude." Said AJ.
"AJ is right, Nick. You should have told us about this before. If we have to, we'd have cancelled the whole tour if it really affects you that much." Said Howie.
"So what do I do now?" said Nick.
Warren has been sitting, listening to the conversation in silence. He was impressed at the thought that they were actually watching each other's back... just like his team. The X-men looked after one another too, simply because they have no one else to turn to. They are mutants and the world viewed mutants like some diseased freaks. Sometimes, even the hospital staff would refuse them, when they discovered that they are mutants.
"I have a friend who is also a damn good doctor." Said Warren. "His name is Dr. Hank McCoy and he's at Westchester at the moment. But he is always ready to fly over whenever I needed him. If you want, I can give him a call and ask him to come over to see you. At least that way, you can keep this little problem of yours as quiet as possible. Jive will never know about it, even Brian and Kevin, if you don't want them all to know about it."
"No, Brian and Kevin have the right to know about this. We're brothers. We take care of each other and we don't keep secrets from each other." Said Howie firmly.
"Well, Nick? What do you say?" asked AJ.
Nick looked at Warren silently for a while.
"This Dr. Hank McCoy. How good is he?"
Warren smiled amusedly. Hank aka the Beast, is also a mutant and has been looking after the X-men as the team physician for years. In fact he, like Warren, is also one of the original X-men. He would be deeply hurt if he heard anyone doubting his medical skills.
"He's a doctor as well as a researcher. Already, he has been invited to various medical conferences because of his research. You'll be in good hand, I promise you."
Nick turned this over and over in his mind and after a while, he nodded.
"You seem reluctant." Said Warren. "Its okay if you don't want to see him. No need to force yourself."
"No, no. It's not that. It just that I have this bad feeling that I'm going to learn something bad from this." Said Nick.
"I'm sure its nothing, Nick. Relax. Gosh, you're not as tense as this even when you went to see your dentist." AJ laughed.
Jubilee returned while they were having lunch, grinning and carrying even more shopping bags.
"I thought you decided to built a home here," Warren greeted her with a smile.
"Very funny, pretty boy. Wow, my legs are killing me!" said Jubilee.
"Really? I never noticed." Howie smirked as he drinks his coke.
Jubilee ordered her lunch and as soon as it arrived, the girl attacked it greedily.
"Shopping is a hungry work huh?" AJ smiled.
"You have no idea!" Jubilee answered cheerfully. "You guys wanna make another round in the mall?"
"NO!" the answer came simultaneously from four male throats.
Jube laughed and continue on with her meal. They chatted cheerfully for a while and when she finished her meal, they stood up and make their way to the exit.
AJ and Howie were chatting with Jubilee about the time they were dragged out by Christina Aguilera to the mall when a familiar scream erupted, causing them to turn around in panic.
From one of the shop, a group of teenage girls were screaming and pointing at Nick, AJ and Howie... and things went downhill from that time onward. The girls' screams were like small rocks rolling down a rocky mountain that eventually trigger an avalanche. In matter of seconds, it seems like every teenage girls in the whole mall, some even have boyfriends at their side, were screaming before rushing towards them. An avalanche? No, a stampede of wild elephants would be a better description, and Warren, Jubilee and the guys have no choice but to run or perish.
"Ruuuuunnnn!!!" Howie yelled and they ran like there is no tomorrow. Warren was even wishing that he could use his wings to fly and save himself.
But running is of no use, for the stampede came from all directions. As Seven-of-Nine and the Borgs in Star Trek Voyager used to say, "Resistance is futile."
"Oh God! No, no!!" Nick said as he looked around wildly, trying to find a way to escape. His head is throbbing wildly and a stab of pain began to flare.
In moments, the girls, each screaming and clawing at them like wild animals surrounded them. Warren and Jubilee were unceremoniously shoved aside. AJ, Nick and Howie were soon separated in the confusion. AJ were doing his best trying to pacify the girls, while Howie stood behind him, looking around wildly for Nick.
"Nick!!" Howie yelled worriedly, knowing Nick present health state.
"Howie!!!!"
Howie, Warren and Jubilee heard Nick pain-filled voice somewhere in the whirling mass of teenage girls.
"Niiiiick!!! Where are you??!" Howie shouted again, pushing himself through the clawing mass of screaming girls.
Warren stepped back from the chaos worriedly. He heard Nick's voice somewhere within the mass, but couldn't pinpoint where. Willing his battle-trained mind to stay calm, he worked up a solution for the problem.
"Jube!"
Jubilee looked up at him enquiringly.
"Hide yourself near that corner there and use your power to scare them all away from the area."
Jubilee nodded and rushed off immediately.
"Howieee!! Waaarreeeenn!!" Nick cried out hoarsely amidst the screaming girls. "Heeelllpppp!!!"
His head is pounding like mad, and the flaring pain multiplied a thousand folds, causing him to scream. Tears leaked out of his eyes and he bent forward and put both hands over his head, hoping it'd lessen the pain.
A nearby girl screamed and a huge burst of emotion and pain overwhelms him again, causing him to join in with the screaming. Some of the girls noticed his distress and tried to call for help, but to no avail against the screaming mass of girls behind them who, lost in their excitement, were totally oblivious to the unfolding distress before them.
His heart now beats so fast it feels like it's exploding. Another burst of scream caused him to scream again and finally his mind couldn't take the stress anymore. Nick felt a trickle of fluid flowing from his nose, and touching it; he stared dully at the blood on his fingertips. But at that time, everything seems to happen in slow motion. He felt his body goes limp and his strength fails. He felt his body fell to the ground, and the world seems to get darker. In the midst of the twilight, he saw bursts of multicolor lights and sparks exploded in the air near them. Who could have set off fireworks in the mall?
But he was beyond caring. His mind became numb and his hearing became dull. With a final effort to stay awake, his mind shut off, and he drifted into unconsciousness...
A burst of multicolor lights and sparks and fireworks seem to appear out of the thin air above the mass of screaming girls, startling them and causing them to scream louder and run. Confusion and chaos seems to dominate the mall that afternoon and Warren regretted that it has to come to this.
The girls seem to scatter and run into every direction. Another burst of multicolor sparks appeared as Jubilee lashes out with her power again, and those tougher-minded girls who tried to remain near the vicinity ran off, leaving the ruffled and wild-eyed remains of the three Backstreet Boys standing in the middle of the scene... well at least two of them are standing. Warren's eyes widened as he saw Nick lying on the ground - still and unmoving.
"Nick!!!" Warren yelled and rushed to the unconscious man. AJ and Howie looked up in alarm and whirled around towards the direction where Warren was running.
"Nick!" AJ and Howie yelled and rushed over.
"Nick!" Jubilee yelled as she rushed out of her hiding place.
Warren gently turned him over and quickly checked his vitals.
"He's bleeding!" said Howie in a panicked voice.
"He's unconscious," said Warren calmly. "His breathing is normal and so does his heart rate - a bit on the high side but that is to be expected. Help me to the limo, guys. We need to get him home to bed. I'll call Hank to come over immediately. If he takes my private jet, he should be here by 7 o'clock. With luck, he'd get here earlier."
With that, they quickly made their way to the parking lot where the limo is waiting for them. Soon, they were on their way back to the hotel.
"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster. How can I help you?" A male voice greeted Warren in the phone.
"Bobby? Its me, Warren."
"Warren!!" Robert 'Bobby' Drake, aka Iceman, shouted cheerfully, "Wings! Where the hell have you been?! It's been so long, things are starting to get dull here without you! How are you, man?"
"I'm doing great. Listen, Bobby, I need your help... well actually Hank's and Jean's help. Are they around?"
"Hank's in his lab, while Jean is around, somewhere. Why? What's wrong, Wings?"
"Can you pass me to Hank? I really, really need his help right now."
"Oh, okay. But you owe me an explanation. I'll go and call him now."
Warren tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. In the background, he could hear Bobby yelling Hank's name. Then he leaned forward and peer into the bedroom to see how Nick is. Nick is lying unconscious on his bed, with AJ and Howie staying beside him, watching him worriedly. Looking towards the other side, down the short corridor leading to the sitting room, Jubilee is strolling towards him from the kitchen with two cups of hot coffee in her hands.
"Is Hank in?" she asked quietly.
Warren nodded.
"Bobby is calling him now."
Jubilee nodded and walked on into the room. Warren smiled a little. Jubilee is a wild girl most of the time, but she can be serious when she needs to. Her pyrotechnic ability saved them all actually. Thank goodness AJ and Howie was too concerned about Nick to ask where those fireworks came from.
"Warren?" Dr. Hank McCoy's voice appeared from the other end of the line.
"Hank, sorry to disturb you, but I need a huge favor."
"Of course, my winged friend. What do you need?" said Hank. Warren smiled again. Hank has always been polite, sometime too polite to everyone. "You're not in trouble are you?"
"No, I'm doing great. But a friend of mine isn't. Do you mind if I send you my private jet and ask you to come over to LA? A friend of mine got hurt and I think he could really use your help right now."
"LA? Hmm... I don't know. I'm actually in the middle of an experiment. Have you tried the hospital?"
"Actually, I'd prefer you to examine him, Hank. Don't ask. I cannot explain it on the phone. I have a suspicion but I'm still not sure of it. Please, Hank? Do this favor for me?"
Hank sighed.
"All right, if it's really important to you." He answered at last. "Give me the address of the place you're staying."
Warren gave him the details.
"And another thing, Hank. Can you bring Jean along?" said Warren before hanging up.
"Jean? Okay that's it. What is going on, Warren? Jean and Scott are having their anniversary dinner tonight. I can't just yank her away from him. I'm quite daring in battles, yes, but never suicidal."
Warren sighed. He really doesn't want to discuss his suspicion on the phone, but Hank was right. Warren totally forgot about the anniversary dinner.
"It's this friend of mine. I think he's a mutant." Warren whispered through the phone so that AJ and Howie couldn't overhear the conversation.
"I think he is telepathic, but I'm not sure about it." Warren continued. "He shows similar signs that Jean described when her telepathic ability first kicked in. Whatever it is, he couldn't control his power. In fact, he was not even aware that he is a mutant at all. We got into some trouble about an hour ago at the mall and he got hurt. He's unconscious now, resting at my place. That's why I need you to examine him. I also need Jean's telepathic ability to see if he is a telepath or not and if he is, then Jean can help him control it before it drives him insane."
Hank remained silent through out the talk.
"Jean and I will be there as soon as we can. Just make sure his vitals are stable, okay?"
"Thanks, Hank. Tell Scott I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Warren. He'll understand. Maybe you can make it up for him in the future."
"I'll arrange a holiday for them on one of my private beaches." Warren smiled.
"Yes, that will do nicely. I'll go and get Jean. See you in a bit."