It's time for our guys to meet the success
Notes:ARRGHHH I mae such a huge mstake, posted the wrong chapter last time..
here's the one I should have posted and then I'll add the others until the first part of chapter XVII I
Disclaimer: the title of the chapter is from the lyrics of 'Citizen Erased by Muse
Chapter XV II: To see and to be what you want and what you need
The time for boarding the airplane comes and once they're on board Matthew decides to speak to anyone who crosses his path.
He doesn't simply intend to have a chat; he has chosen a particular topic of conversation.
"Yes, but you know, it's a law of big numbers: if a plane has always performed flights with no damage, it is statistically more probable that sooner or later it will not go well- and you know what? I have heard that this airplane has already completed more than two hundred flights intact, without even a turbulence," Matt pretends to inform a family sitting in front of him.
"A- already two hundred flights? Are you really sure?" the head of the household questions, nervously adjusting his glasses on his nose.
"Totally sure. I wonder if we'll be so lucky again this time!" the pretty brunet sighs doubtfully, enjoying having such a good time... or rather an evil time.
Once he has finished terrorizing those unlucky people, the devil turns to his next victim, this time a young couple of sweethearts.
"I'll tell you what, the right wing does not seem to be very solid to me and I think that someone didn't close the central door on the left correctly. Let's just hope that it will not open when we are at a high altitude and..." The merciless Mephistophelean creature continues to instill doubts in his listeners.
"No, love, don't mind him, you'll see, he must be wrong!" the young man snaps, before covering his beloved's ears with his hands.
"Why are you not stopping him?" Chris asks Dominic.
"Oh, c'mon, let him have his fun, after all, he's not causing any physical harm," Dom mutters without even opening his eyes, curled up comfortably in his seat, with his head against the window. "Why are you not stopping him? " he questions the human soon after.
"Because I'm too revved up to do anything," Chris replies, pervaded by a rush of adrenaline stronger than ever before.
"Fear and panic in the air. What a wonderful feeling!" Matthew whispers softly to his fellow travelers, since he sits between them, and grins.
"You always have to identify yourself, don't you?" Dom grumbles.
"Of course. I want Tom to be proud of me!" the other smiles slyly.
However, he is in a totally different mood when, after the announcements of routine, the plane begins to gain speed, going around the track and preparing for the takeoff.
As soon as it lifts off the ground, Matthew instinctively squeezes Dominic's hand tightly and he wakes up.
"What's wrong? Are you afraid?" the blond murmurs, smiling.
"Of course I'm not!" the brunet shakes his head negatively, as the plane climbs ever higher. "It's just that we're going so high up in the sky and I've never been there before," he mutters, embarrassed.
"Oh well, believe me or not, but we are barely skimming the first heaven," says the blond. "It's a bit like when I took the subway before and you told me that we were not even remotely close to your home. It's a start." He smiles, but for some reason Matt doesn't release his hand.
When the plane finally stabilizes itself and the superimposed signal that passengers can unfasten their seat belts appears, Matthew takes the opportunity to wander through the corridors.
"I still have so many cards to play, such as: 'I've heard a strange little noise', 'the cart is defective'…" he informs the other two, before walking away.
All Dominic and Chris can do is to give him a carte blanche.
After all the 'nice' speeches that Matthew has filled them with, when the plane finally lands without the slightest hitch, at least half of the passengers kiss the ground gratefully.
Once they have recovered the luggage that Chris and Matt have dropped off, the three leave the airport, looking for the fastest way to reach the record label. Around noon, they finally arrive at their destination.
Chris observes that building with white walls in awe. There's a plate in black and white with the Hyper Music logo, which is a bit disturbing ( it appears to depict two burly wrestlers, ready to slaughter each other). Chris keeps staring at it as if his life depends on it... and in a certain way it does.
"So, do you want to push that bell or would you prefer to wait until it's night?" Matt snorts, carrying out the gesture that Chris seems reluctant to perform.
The door opens, and after a few moments, the three go to the indicated floor entrance, crossing another threshold where on colorful walls there're plenty of photos of concerts and gold and platinum records of famous bands and artists.
"Guys, that could be our future!" Chris says, pointing to the walls.
"It will be," Dominic confidently smirks.
"Hello, we are..." Chris looks at who is likely to be the receptionist.
"Oh, I do know who you are!" the young girl, who must not be older than twenty years, smiles. "Take a seat as well, Miss Howard will receive you shortly," she invites them.
"To hell with Miss Howard!" A young woman comes out of her office, tall, blonde, with a slender physique and a dazzling smile. "Just call me Emma, dears, come in!" she exhorts them, showing them the way to her office, but not before shaking their hands.
The office is actually a meeting room, with a large oval table in the center, where she takes a seat at the top.
Chris, Matt and Dom sit on the left side, looking at the two men and the woman who sits on the right side with curiosity mixed with suspicion. In all probability they must be Emma's team.
"Hello everyone," Chris begins, embarrassed, placing the case of his bass on the ground. "I guess that you would like to see us at work first. "
"Oh no, dear, we do not need that, what I saw in the video is enough." Emma smiles. "Hyper Music believes in you, I believe in you and in you I want to invest," she says with a honeyed voice. "My dear boys, this is not a test. You have already passed that test and exceeded our expectations. Now you just have to start for real!" she continues, before her phone begins to ring insistently.
"Oh, excuse me!" She gets up from her chair but remains in the room, accepting the call.
Chris and his guardians see that cheerful and friendly expression gradually disappear from the girl's face, giving way to disappointment that leads to anger.
"I don't give a bloody damn; I've said that the limited edition should be on the shelves of all the stores in two weeks. So find a way to do that or consider yourself fired!" she roars furiously before hanging up, typing a text message to the proper authorities.
"Oh, look, look, so it seems that the sugar cube can be more poisonous than a rattlesnake. Oh, I like her so much!" Matt whispers to Dom, looking pleased.
"But no, it's just that in a job like this people also need firmness and she has it. I like her so much for that!" the blond comments, in the same admiring way.
"There aren't any proper employees anymore!" she justifies, resetting her hair styling and placing the phone back in her purse. "What was I saying?" she resumes the conversation, with her big smile coming back to illuminate her face in a rather disturbing way.
"We have to start seriously… or so you said, Miss Emma!" Chris repeats, afraid.
"I told you to call me just Emma!" she exhorts them, but it sounds more like a strict order.
"Yes, yes… as you wish, Emma. So, what else were you saying?" Matt appeases her, perhaps because he's a bit disturbed by her as well.
"We'll start off with an EP of Heaven, Earth & Hell... is it okay if I call you just 'Hell' to do that more quickly?" she asks.
"For me that's great!" the devil chuckles.
"Uhm… nope. Could you please use an acronym? It's fast as well, right?" Dom proposes and she accepts with a nod.
"You must prepare at least five songs on your own. I'll give you two months, but it'd be better if you finished them in one month," she says, which her team approves with silent motions.
The three rock star wannabes realize for themselves that this is not simply advice, but a veiled threat too and they nod.
"Very well. Then, depending on how the listeners react to HE&H's EP," she pauses, throwing a glare at Dominic who thanks her with his eyes, "We will decide what budget to provide for the proper album," she concludes.
"Of course, we can do that!" Chris affirms, beyond all the possible excitement.
"Very well, let's move to the recording. I need your names, please," one of the men from the team urges them, opening a separate file on his Macbook.
"The names?" Chris repeats, confused.
"Yes, names. I mean, you have an identity, don't you? " the woman of the team points out, kind of rudely.
- Well, I do - Chris ponders, looking at the other two.
Inventing their full names is the only thing that they have not thought about at all.
"Well, then, provide the documents, please," the second man exhorts them.
"Oh yes, of course. I'm Christopher Tony Wolstenholme and they are Matthew... De Vil and Dominic... Angelson," The bassist invents them spontaneously, showing his identity card and hoping that the other two understand what they need to do- and they do understand it, because they both provide documents that match those descriptions exactly.
"So, Dominic James Angelson..." the woman reads aloud, opening the identity card created at that moment.
"And Matthew James De Vil..." says the first man, reading Matt's.
"You stole my middle name! I bet you did it right after you have heard my complete identity!" Dom accuses him softly.
"What if I did that? I liked it, it sounds good next to my name as well!" Matt shrugs.
"But... James is my favorite apostle!" the angel throws a tantrum, without being overheard.
"From now on, he's my favorite, too," the devil replies. "Think about it, little angel, you always babble so damn much about how cool sharing is, don't you?" he adds, making the blond smile.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I would like to change my name..." Dom says, turning to the woman who is copying the details from the card.
- For Hell's sake! How can he be so childish that he wants to change his middle name? - Matthew broods, annoyed.
"What did you say? " The manager glares at him.
"The last name... I do not know... I am not sure, but if I recall correctly, it's possible to change it, isn't it? " the angel goes on.
"Ah, if you wanted a stage name, you could have told me from the beginning!" his interlocutor figures out. "And, tell me, do you already have any idea?"
"I love Howard. Dominic James Howard. It sounds so beautiful. Can I use it? " he questions, staring at the boss of the record company with expectant eyes.
In response, Emma bursts into laughter, while approaching.
"Of course you can, little star. If it helps selling records, you can also pretend that you're my brother!" she approves, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Hey wait, I want to change my last name, too, then!" Matthew declares, pointing to the man who is taking care of his details.
- These two are not centennial guardians, they are preschool children! - Chris ponders desperately, raking his hands through his hair and hiding his face behind the table.
"Tell me then, what would it be?" the man interrogates Matt impatiently, ready to make the correction.
"Well, my friends often call me Hell's Bells... so what if I chose Matthew James Bells?" the brunet smirks.
The team looks at each other, wrinkling their noses and frowning.
"Bells is too short, it does not create the right impact," the second man mutters.
"You need something more French, like your original surname, De Vil, already is," the woman comments.
Matthew rolls his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot, my family name!" the devil reiterates sarcastically, while he gives Chris a caustic stare. "Then… what about Bèllamy ?" he tries again. "If you want it to be more french-like shift it to Bellamì."
Emma and her staff look pleased.
"Bèllamy works perfectly, go for that!" approves the second man, correcting the name.
"Are you really sure you do not want to change your last name? Honestly, you're the one who would need it the most," the other man advises Chris.
"I beg your pardon?" The bassist jolts in surprise.
"He's right, you know? Yours is an almost unpronounceable surname, it doesn't produce the desirable effect," the female manager points out.
"I don't care about the effect, I'm fine with my real last name!" Chris asserts a little grumpily.
"Okay, okay," the first manager mutters, starting to print the complete file.
"Let's get down to business," Emma chirps, moving away to fetch the sheet of paper in the other room.
"This is the annual contract, we just need your signatures," she says, handing them the paper and pointing to the spaces in which to sign.
Matthew and Dominic sign without hesitation, happy to put into practice those fictitious names, while Chris is attacked by sudden and tremendous doubts. He stands with the fountain pen in his hand, his glance shifting from Emma to her team, then around the room and finally to Matt.
"Can I have a moment alone with my band mates?" he questions politely.
"Of course, dear, I understand that this is an important decision to make," Emma nods. "Guys, everyone out, now!" she urges her team to go out, leaving the trio alone.
"Sonny, can you tell me what's wrong?" Dominic looks at him worriedly.
"It's all too easy, too fast. There wasn't even an audition," the bassist mutters and then he points his finger at the devil. "Confess, Matt: Emma, all her staff... are they your colleagues and this is all a charade? Am I right?"
Matthew bursts out laughing.
"Oh, come on. Do you really believe that I would resort to such low-level strategies? This is a genuine contract, no trick! " the brunet states.
"I do not trust you!" the curly-haired guy hisses, looking at the contract against the light, almost as if by doing so he could find an important small print.
"Oh, thank you, you have no idea how much this flatters me!" Matthew smiles smugly, but seeing that Chris keeps being paranoid he snorts.
"Dammit, what do I have to do to convince you? Create a sort of detector of contracts for the souls?" he jokes.
"Can I create that for you?" Dom offers promptly and kindly.
"No, I want to do it. So, Chris, do you desire such a tool so ardently than you're willing to give me anything?" The devil grins wickedly.
This time, Chris is the one who laughs, forgetting all his fears.
"Matt, can you hear yourself when you talk? Think about it... what would be the point in giving you my soul in order to receive a detector of contracts for souls?" he points out very patiently.
"I guess you have a point there..." the brunet mutters.
"Christopher, what's happening to you is more than deserved, it's the fruit of your efforts and also Matt's and my efforts, if you agree," the angel explains, smiling. "There is no plot to damage you, it's something wonderful that finally happened to you. Besides, you know, I am able to detect my enemies, and trust me, the only negative aura in this room was, is, and remains Matthew's. "
"Oh, that's so nice, little angel, I see you're in the mood for compliments to everyone today!" his beloved states with a huge grin.
Encouraged by these words, Chris signs the contract, calls in all the Hyper Music staff and after reaching the last agreements the trio leaves the building.
"So, we did it, we will become a famous rock band!" Dominic rejoices, approaching Matthew. "I'll have to keep an eye on you, Mr. Bèllamy, I saw what fans do to their idols!" he whispers.
"Do you really believe that they will ignore such a cutie pie like you, Mr. Howard? If anything, I'll have to keep an eye on you!" the fascinating brunet whispers back, rubbing his hip against the blond's back.
"I can't wait to get home to give Kelly these fantastic news. There's a flight to London in two hours," Chris states, trying to spot a taxi in the distance.
"Be content to talk on the phone with her, we don't want to return home immediately!" Matt hisses abruptly.
"Yeah, did you know that the Arndale is here, with more than two-hun-dred-and-for-ty sto-res?" Dom adds, pronouncing everything slowly to underline the importance of that issue.
"How can you know about the biggest shopping mall in Manchester?" Chris looks at him in amazement.
"Never underestimate my technological little angel!" Matt wink towards the blond. "Since he has found out that with a cell phone you can go on the web, there's nothing that can stop him anymore!"
"Perhaps you have not understood well: twohundredandfortystores!" Dominic reiterates, trying not to hyperventilate.
"I know. And I also know that we have an overflowing wallet just waiting to be emptied," Matt grins.
"And soon we won't even need the magic help anymore!" Dom chuckles.
"But boys, the flight... you can't go there!" Chris makes another attempt.
"And why not? We have done our duty, after all. We deserve it!" Dom replies, with an insistence that's unusual for him.
"You can choose. You can come with us... or we'll meet after sunset at the airport," Matt suggests.
"Think about it, Chris. In that mall you can most likely find something cute, original and special to give to Kelly," Dominic persuades him.
"Uh, it's true, I hadn't thought about that. Besides, Kelly loves gifts," Chris muses and then he stares at the angel suspiciously. "But... wait! Isn't Matt supposed to be the tempter devil?"
"When he wants, my little angel can do that pretty well also!" Matthew makes Dominic blush. "So... are we going or what?" He spurs them, putting his guitar over his shoulder.
Dom trots happily by his side, while Chris has no other choice but to follow them, from a distance.
Not seen by the lovely couple nor by any potential passerby, the human looks first down to the ground and then up to the sky.
"Tell me, how could you two stand them for so long?"
TBC
Notes:Personally, I was fond of that De Vil, but Bellamy is Bellamy XD
I realize that this ' hybrid ' is becoming less and less an AU, I apologize for that XD
I told you that even Emma would have a role, she just needed to complete the picture! ^^
I hope you enjoyed this part (Tom&Morgan will be back on the next chapter, if you're missing them, lol), feel free to tell me anything, even a word to know you're still here, but, pleeeeeease, don't disappear, I need you to go on with this (still long, long ,long ) story :/