“Sorry V,” he apologized again, slipping on his other boot.
She rolled her eyes. “Shove it Chasez- that’s the 20th time- and GO!”
“I’ll be back soon, promise.”
“You’re too good to me,” Vanessa smiled at his kindness. “Go- you have a job to do.”
“Love you,” he said, hugging her quickly.
“Love you too.”
JC left her warm house and jumped into his Jeep, revving the engine and was on his way.
The sun was sinking behind the horizon, giving JC some much needed peace. Chaos was slowly seeping into his life, and he tried achingly to sort all his thoughts. He wished he had a Pensieve- the bowl of thoughts featured and existent only in Harry Potter. Maybe then he could make some sense of the mayhem he now called life.
Planets…Crystalon…rings…Chosen Ten…people with blue and green hair…it was one of the strangest things he had ever heard, yet the most comprehendible. Strangely, it made sense to him. But if he tried to figure out WHY, he’d end up thinking so hard that his head would hurt- literally. Somehow he felt compelled to do this- he had to.
JC made a left down the busy street, easily spotting the rundown house in the midst of the well-kept rows of homes.
He parked and ran up the door, knocking quickly. Next thing he knew, two pairs of hands reached out and pulled him in.
“Gee love you guys too,” he muttered, dusting off his jacket. JC looked up and noticed Chris. “Hello.”
The older man smiled. “Hello. I’m Chris.”
They shook hands briefly before looking at Joey.
“Ok everyone,” Joey waved his arm towards the living room, “sit. We have a looong night ahead of us.”
The four men sat down on the comfortable black couches, glancing at each other uncertainly.
“Joe what’s goin on?” JC asked, genuinely confused about why Chris was sitting in the room.
“He’s one of us.”
JC stared for a moment, not sure of what he meant. Then the realization dawned on him. “OH! You are? Which one? When did this happen?”
“Whoa! One question at a time!” Chris laughed, leaning back in his seat. “Well, yes, I am one of the Chosen Ten…I am the rightful owner of the golden ring- for lightning. I’ve had it for…wow um…since I was like ten.”
“You know about the Prophecy?” Joey asked, almost relieved he didn’t have to repeat his history lesson.
“Why, yes I do,” Chris smiled, crossing his hands behind his head. “My mother told it to me when I was 18.”
“Oh good- we don’t have to hear that boring story again,” Justin smirked, crossing his strong arms.
“Hey! It wasn’t boring!” Joey said defiantly.
“Yes it was.”
“How’d you guys meet?” JC broke in.
“Tae Kwan Do,” Chris replied, chuckling at Justin and Joey still arguing.
“Tae Kwan Do?” JC asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “You mean that class J had to go to today?”
“That’s the one. You tell ‘em Joey.”
“Huh?”
“Thought so. PAY ATTENTION!” Chris laughed. JC smiled.
+ + +
“Can’t we go to bed YET?” Nick whined. “My eyes are so tired they feel like empty air!”
Brian snickered. “Just five more minutes Frack.”
“You said that-”
“An hour ago,” Nebula finished for him, her patience wearing thin. “Brian are you SURE he’s one of us?”
“How many times do I have to TELL you people?” Nick cried to the air, throwing his exhausted hands up. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t!”
“Guys, this is getting redundant,” Kevin sighed, rubbing his emerald eyes. “And it’s getting quite annoying.”
“Yes, I agree with Kevin,” Nebula seconded quickly, eager to get more work done. They were so close.
“See Nick- I’m not the only one who thinks you’re annoying,” Brian added, ducking a blow from his friend. “JUST KIDDING!!”
“Guys! GET TO WORK!”
The “boys” quieted down and looked over the papers they had.
“Neb.”
“Hmm.”
“This…detector or whatever we call it, is supposed to send rays of energy to find the others?” Nick asked, being serious, flipping through the many pages of notes.
“Yup. Hopefully, the rays will sense the presence of other rings, and save us time from looking.”
“Cool. I don’t think it’ll work though.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Brian said. “If it gets us out of work, I’m in.”
“Oh brother,” Kevin snorted, jotting down a quick note.
“How does it work?” Nick asked.
“Well, there are ten placements at the top for the rings, and when they glow, the laser will take that energy and direct it out of the nozzle in an invisible form. If there are other rings here, then the control pad,” Nebula showed him the beginnings of it she had, “will start to glow. I’m working on getting it to glow the color of the stone in the ring.”
“Wow.” Nick looked fascinated. The expression dropped. “It won’t work.”
Nebula groaned. “Nick!”
“How are you supposed to shoot these things without people noticing? I mean, someone’s GOT to notice a gun poking out of your pocket. And what if it’s not wide enough? We’ll be looking around, shooting for hours!”
They all stared at the blonde in silence. The whirring of the air conditioner was deafening to their ears as Nick looked at them all, a confused expression on his face as if saying, “What?”
“He’s got a point,” Brian said, breaking the roaring silence. “And he’s right. We need to make the beam wider.”
“Who are you and what have you done to Nick?” Nebula asked, staring intently at the man.
“Hey! C’mon I’m not stupid,” Nick scoffed. “Only blonde for show I always say.”
“Ok never mind- you’re Nick.”
Rolling his blue eyes, the blonde looked at his notes.
“Neb?”
“What?” she replied, somewhat irritably.
“Can I unscramble the names?”
“Like you’re going get anything out of it,” Nebula sighed, passing him the piece of paper.
“Well you’ve got me! So there must be more!”
“NOW you’re optimistic,” Brian rolled his sapphire eyes.
The young blonde looked over the sheet. “Hey…” Nick trailed off, staring at the names. “Trackiprik? That’s waaay too easy!”
“What?” they all asked, looking up from their work.
“That’s Chris!” Nick smiled triumphantly.
“Chris? You mean your friend Chris?” Brian asked, jaw dropping.
“One and only.”
“NOOO!” Brian cried out in mock agony, hands pulling down the skin of his face to dramatize it even more. “Not him! *gasp*!”
“What?” the other two asked, not following along.
“Loong story,” Nick said, eyebrows raised at his friend.
“And I suggest you don’t ask,” Kevin added.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she said, nodding.
The woman watching finally found the moment to speak. “Princess?”
“Yes Rachella?”
“You have a holo-meeting with Derrick.”
“Derrick?” Nebula asked, looking up quickly. The other three men looked up at her sudden perkiness.
Rachella grinned. “Yes. He’s been asking for you.”
“I’ll be right back,” she said, jumping out of the seat and hurrying down the corridor.
The three men stared after her.
“Is it just me or was she SKIPPING?” Brian asked, eyebrows raised.
Nick glanced at the older man before turning to Rachella. “Who’s Derrick?”
“Her trinala.”
“Uh…that would that be…?” Nick asked, not knowing what she meant.
“Goodness…” Rachella searched for the Earth-term. “What is it…oh yes. Boyfriend.”
“Nebula has a BOYFRIEND?”
“Of course. You wouldn’t think she’d be single now would you?”
The two younger men blushed slightly.
Rachella rolled her brown eyes. “Earthlings. Strange minds I tell you.”
+ + +
“Derrick?”
“Nebula,” Derrick smiled. “So nice to see your beautiful face again.”
The young woman blushed. “It’s a relief to hear your voice. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
“You’re sure about that?” he winked.
Nebula giggled and smiled at him. He had short dark brown hair plus some blonde highlights, spiked up similar to the hairstyles of many on Earth. His eyes were cadet blue with streaks of hazel lightning, deepening them so, and there were tiny flecks of red in them. His smile was wide and his voice melodic. His presence alone was enough to bring her floating across the ground.
“How are you?” she asked eagerly, not having spoken to him for a while.
He sighed. “Bored. There’s nothing to do here.”
“Getting in trouble I’m sure,” she smiled.
“Well, there are only so many things I can do!”
Nebula laughed. “Sometimes I wish you’d behave yourself.”
“Dream on Neb.”
For a Prilonian, he had the sarcasm and humor of an Earthling.
“You should meet my friends- they would like you a lot.”
“Really? Who might they be?”
“Nick and Brian are just like you,” she smiled. “But Kevin is a little more responsible.”
“Ooh. I have a bad feeling already,” he joked. Derrick’s eyes went elsewhere in alarm. “I’m sorry Nebula, I must go. Urgent business.”
The Crystalon Princess sighed sadly. “If you must. I love you Derrick.”
“I love you too, and I’ll see you soon,” he whispered. “I must go. Goodbye for now Nebula.”
The screen blinked and was black an instant later.
Nebula stared at the screen, still seeing Derrick’s face. It had been a while since they had been in the same room, much less same galaxy. He was flying around with a band of Prilonians, fighting off small outbreaks and arguments. Having a holo-meeting with him only made her more anxious for the day they would meet again.
Sighing, she pushed away from the desk in the small room and walked slowly to the workplace.
“Hey,” Nick said, noticing her dull expression. “What’s wrong?”
Nebula smiled desolately. “Nothing that you should be concerned about.”
“You’re sure?” Nick asked.
“Yes I’m quite sure.”
“POSITIVE?” Brian joined in.
She nodded.
The two returned to their work.
“But if you must know,” Nebula sighed, “I miss him.”
“Derrick you mean,” Kevin said.
“Yes.”
“So it’s like a long distance type thing, right?” Brian asked.
“I guess if you must compare it to Earth relationships.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. That’s that worst part,” Nebula rubbed her tired eyes. “He flies around with the other Prilonians.”
“That sucks,” Nick said simply.
“Very much so.”
Brian snorted quietly at that comment.
“Just get your mind off it,” Kevin suggested, ignoring his cousin’s immature behavior. “The sooner this is over with, the sooner you can see him.”
“I’ll do that.” Nebula eyed Nick and Brian warily.
“What?”
“Nothing…just…suspicious.”
“Of what?”
Looking up a moment, Nebula responded, “You guys.”
+ + +
Lance blinked his eyes and shook his head wildly, holding his pounding head. It happened AGAIN. He shut his eyes tight, forcing it away. His stomach churned incessantly, whether from hunger or from the nightmare he did not know.
The dreams…it was something to do with his ring, that much he knew. Something was going to happen. But what was it?
Lance tried to remember the dream as vividly as he could.
It was him and…and…someone else, he couldn’t remember who. They were surrounded on all sides. Dark, hideous creatures. Claws and fangs. Sharp knives- as if they needed them. They stood at least six foot tall, the tallest being around 7 feet tall. They had skin of tiny blades- like sharks have. Their mouths were open in wicked grins, and some had blood coming down the side of their mouths. Each was holding a gun. Not just any gun- it was a laser gun. Now Lance could sense others. Still he did not know who they were. His memory flashed towards the leader- the tall one. All around him he could hear low, throaty growls, all menacing and malicious. The people around him were speaking, but Lance couldn’t hear a word. The words jumbled together, creating a low humming to roar in his ears. The leader held a badly injured man in his clawed hands, the man’s head hanging down limply. The beast lifted the nearly mutilated man up with one hand, showing Lance his face.
He had gashes all over him, his eyes shut in agony of his wounds. Lance knew he only had so much life in him. To his horror, the evil creature punched the man in the stomach, causing him to curl up in a ball in pain. And again. And again. At last, the evil creature lifted his arm blade up high-
Lance cried out when he heard the high shriek echoing in his mind, knowing what became of the man. Surely he had fought against the beast.
He felt sick.
+ + +
AJ watched JC intently, meaning to intimidate him. It worked.
JC’s hands began to sweat under AJ’s hard gaze, feeling as if he were an intruder. He hummed as quietly as he could without making it heard. At last he couldn’t take it anymore, and attempted to start conversation.
“You’re Lance’s writer?” he asked, hoping his voice sounded strong.
AJ smirked. “Yup.”
The older man groaned inwardly when AJ didn’t elaborate on the subject.
“Do you have anything you need to do?”
The rebel only shook his head no.
“Do you know where Lance is?” JC tried, hoping to get two words out of the man.
AJ shrugged.
JC nearly leapt at him- until AJ opened his mouth.
“He’s late.” AJ was hit with a thought. “He’s never late.” He looked troubled. “I gotta go.”
JC looked after him in worry. Was something wrong?
“Jean has Lance come in yet?” AJ asked the secretary hopefully.
She shook her head. “Why? Something wrong?”
“No, no nothing,” AJ said. To convince her, he added, “Don’t worry your pretty lil head off.”
Jean smiled and rolled her eyes, returning to her work.
“I’ll be back in a little bit,” AJ called behind his shoulder as he walked out the double doors.
+ + +
“Boss?”
When he got no answer, he called up, “Lance?”
“In here.”
“Where?”
“Bathroom.”
AJ found the small bathroom and his eyes widened when he saw Lance, crouched over the toilet. For the record, it was full.
“Lance what the hell are you doing?!” he cried in alarm.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing my ass. What have you been doing?”
Lance only had so much time to smile at AJ’s concern before throwing up again.
“Beer and I don’t get along very well,” he managed to choke.
“BEER?! As in, ALCOHOL beer? Are you KIDDING me?” AJ cried, wide eyed.
“Ugh do I LOOK like I’m kidding?!”
“Ok, guess not. But what the hell are you drinking for?”
“I had a nightmare.”
The brunette cocked his eyebrows. “Like that’s gonna justify your drinking.”
“You didn’t see it…” Lance groaned, wincing at the bitter taste of partially digested food in his mouth.
“See what? The nightmare?”
“Yeah…”
“It couldn’t have been THAT bad,” AJ said, kneeling down. Getting a whiff of Lance’s breath, he backed away.
“You didn’t see it…”
“Whatever! What was there to see?”
“Our rings…something about our rings…” Lance squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.
“What about ‘em?” AJ asked, suddenly sparked with curiosity.
“I don’t know…I saw…these THINGS…monsters…”
“Monsters.”
“Yeah…tall and had all these huge blades everywhere. The leader had this guy…he was nearly dead I could tell…and…he…he just…KILLED him. And he LAUGHED,” Lance remembered miserably. “I could see a flash of green- my ring- when I shut my eyes. The only thing I could hear was someone’s scream…and his laughing.”
AJ stared at his friend. “So you’re saying, that huge monsters with blades are going to kill someone?”
Nod.
“Are you crazy?”
“No.”
“How can that be possible? Bladed creatures that kill nearly dead people…that just a bunch of bull!” AJ said, getting up and waving his arms around.
“No, I assure you…it’s not,” Lance said, glad the urges to cascade had passed.
“How can you be so sure of this?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I just am.”
“Well that reassures me.”
“Shove it.”
“OH yeah!” AJ cried, his smile on his rugged face again. “JC’s waitin for ya.”
“JC? Dammit I totally forgot!” Lance shouted, slapping his forehead. He jumped up and hurried to his room.
The older man stared after him as the situation and logic dawned on him. “Was it that bad Lance?”
+ + +
JC looked up to see AJ and a very roughed up Lance plow through the door.
“Uh…hi.”
“JC, sorry,” Lance said, nearly out of breath. “I was busy this morning and I lost track of time.”
“You mean you forgot.”
“AJ…”
“Sorry- it was too tempting. You left your neck wide open! I had to-”
“Shut up.”
JC stared amusedly. “I can feel the love.”
Lance rolled his tired green eyes. “Dream on. AJ, go…do something. Don’t you have something to do for Aaron? Anyways, whatcha got?”
“This song…right here.”
*NOTE: Considering this is an AU fic, Space Cowboy will be used for this purpose*
Lance’s eyes scanned over the lyrics.
So if you’re in the mood to take a ride…
Just strap on a suit and get inside…
If you wanna fly
Come and take a ride,
Take a space ride with a cowboy babay
If you wanna fly
Come and take a ride,
Take a space ride, with a cowboy babay
“Cool,” Lance said. “How does it go?”
So JC sang his first verse and the chorus for Lance. He waited nervously for Lance’s approval.
“Wow. This is gonna be good.”
JC had doubts hearing his voice. So he did the only thing he could- he used Telepathy.
‘God what a coincidence…wonder if he’s got a magic ring in here too…possibly someone dying? Agh Lance get that out of your head- it’s not gonna happen. Just a coincidence…has nothing to do with your ring…’
JC froze. Ring? Someone dying? What’s wrong with this picture? His hand went cautiously over his pocket, where his ring was hidden away safely.
He cleared his throat. “Um, are you sure?”
“Yeah- it sounds great.”
“Yeah, not like I’m gonna kill someone with it,” JC joked. He bit his tongue in regret, but the words were already out of his mouth. “Sorry, did I offend you?”
Lance regained his composure. “Uh, no of course not. It was just a joke.”
“Yeah.”
There was a long silence.
“I guess I better get to work then,” JC said finally.
Lance nodded, relieved to be out of there. “Feel free to call me whenever you need. Jean’s just outside.”
The brunette smiled and nodded. After a quick impulse, he called to the figure halfway through the door.
“Good luck with your dream.”