Flight of the Archangel
Disclaimer: "Oh, I hate mummies."
Chapter 10: The Search
An occult shop in New York City
It was a dark night in New York City. A figure flew towards an occult shop, landing on a building top right across from it. The figure was the Archangel, and he was looking for something. A smaller figure caught up with the former musician, landing next to him. This figure was not human. It wasn't even humanoid. It was the winged dinosaur-like demon called Dracor.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jay frowned. "I'm not sure. You told me that the owner of this shop is some old man."
"Trust me, Archangel." Dracor chuckled. "Word spreads quickly among occult practitioners and merchants. The Wand is out there."
"And you think intimidating occult shop owners will help me find it." Jay frowned.
"If you ask around, they can find out information about the Wand." Dracor explained. "Once people will start talking about the Wand, information about the Wand will come to the surface, allowing you to swoop down and grab it."
"All I care about is getting my revenge." Jay grunted. "I am in no mood to start beating down old shopkeepers. My mother raised me better than that."
"In your old life, you wouldn't have done that." Dracor nodded. "However Archangel, this is different. This is not your old life. This is a new one. A clean slate. A chance to make your own rules."
"I'm not going to hurt some old guy." Jay growled.
"Do not fear, Archangel." Dracor reassured. "If all goes well, he will not be harmed."
"He had better not." Jay warned, glaring at the demon. The mystically-reborn mutant flew across the street towards the roof, landing softly. The red-haired mutant opened up a hatch on the roof. Meanwhile, inside the occult shop, the owner, a gray-haired man, was locking up the door.
"And that's another night." The owner chuckled to himself.
"Fancy a little late-night business?" A familiar figure snarled. The owner turned around and saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness. The gray-haired man yelped.
"S-s-stay back, man! Wh-wh-who are you?!" He demanded fearfully.
"I want something." Jay walked up to the man, revealing his painted face and red hair. The glow from his eyes hid any emotion he was showing.
"D-d-don't hurt me!" The man grabbed an objected and raised it over his head like a club. "Stay back, pal!"
"Just give me some information, and I will be gone." Jay told the man. "I want to know if you know anything about the Wand of Watoomb…"
A brownstone in Greenwich Village
The young Indian woman known only as Topaz walked into a sparsely candle-lit room in a brownstone. However, this was no ordinary brownstone. It was the Sanctum Sanctorum, home of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, the mighty and ageless Doctor Strange. The gray-templed sorcerer sat at a table. Sitting across from him was a white-haired woman dressed in what appeared to be a pink long-sleeved outfit with black leggings that had pink circles all over it, and white high-heeled boots.
"You summoned me, Doctor?" Topaz wondered.
"Yes, Topaz." Doctor Strange confirmed. "Take a seat." The Indian woman immediately followed her teacher's instruction.
"Is something wrong, Doctor?" Topaz wondered, blinking. She then looked at the white-haired woman. "Clea?" Clea was the niece of Doctor Strange's enemy, Dormammu. However, unlike her uncle, the white-haired sorceress was one of the good guys. In fact, she was Doctor Strange's wife, and one of his first students.
"There was a disturbance in the afterlife." Clea explained.
"Indeed." Strange confirmed. "One soul never made it to the afterlife."
"That's not exactly new." Topaz frowned. "Lots of souls get angry when they die."
"But this one was found." Clea continued.
"Oh, no…" Topaz groaned.
"The All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto shall reveal it to you…" Strange continued, his amulet glowing, releasing the powerful mystical artifact. The Eye opened and appeared to blast Topaz n the head with a golden energy beam. But what it was actually doing was filling Topaz's head with imagery. An image of Jay flying to a roof. An image of him entering a store. Another image of him demanding information from the shopkeeper. The young magician's jaw dropped.
"Oh, my…"
"This is no coincidence." Clea frowned. "It's pretty obvious what is going on here."
"I should have known that Selene would try to go after the Wand of Watoomb." Strange frowned.
"I know him." Topaz told the Sorcerer Supreme. "Doctor, I know him! He's the Icarus!"
"The mutant musician? The one who got killed by the FoH?" Clea blinked.
"Yes, that's him!" Topaz remembered. "He calls himself Archangel now! He said he came back to get revenge on his sister. He claimed his sister murdered him."
"Hmm…" Strange scratched his chin. "Looks like this Icarus person has just gotten himself into something beyond his understanding."
"Doctor, he's not evil." Topaz defended. "He'd never willingly work for Selene if he knew what she was truly up to!"
"Topaz, we don't know much about Icarus's motives." Clea told the empath.
"I just told you! Selene must've brought him back so he could get his revenge on his sister!" Topaz groaned.
"But she wouldn't just do that out of the goodness of her heart, I'm afraid." Clea frowned. "She would want something from him in return."
"Clea, you do not know him." Topaz crossed her arms.
"And you do?" Strange raised an encouraging eyebrow.
"Yes. A little." Topaz nodded. "I can sense his emotions. He has so much anger inside him. So much rage…and I also sense a lot of pain in him. He feels his life was taken from him unfairly, and he wants it back. There's a lot of conflicting emotions inside him. He's focused…yet scattered. He doesn't know what to do with himself, yet he has goals." Strange smiled.
"My dear, I think you should keep trying to get through to him." Strange encouraged. "I think he's having an effect on you."
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Clea asked concernedly. "We're not sure what kind of powers Selene has given the Archangel."
"I am sure, beloved." Strange reassured. "Selene probably assumes that I am not aware of her search for the wand. She is intelligent and wise, but she tends to get clouded by her arrogance and ego. If we continue reaching to the Archangel, perhaps we'll be able to stop Selene's plan."
Next: Jay Gets A Job Exactly what it says. Jay gets himself a job, and hilarity ensues.