Hi Everybody! I'm Baaaaaaaaaack. (Erie music plays in the background) Thought you could get rid of me. HA! NEVER! Here comes part two of "The Next Stage." I just want to thank you, you wonderful person for coming back to read my story. And for all you people that didn't come to read my next chapter, I DON'T LIKE YOU, I HOPE YOU GET A FUNGUS OF SOME SORT! What? It's not my fault they didn't come back. What did you say? I'm crazy!?! Who told you? The docters say I can leave the hospital soon. Isn't that great!? If you didn't guess already I get a little odd when I get behind a keyboard. Well... before I scare off anymore people... on to the DISCLAIMER!!! Yah! Disclaimers are so fun! Don't you just love them! I sure do!
If you don't want to read this, don't. I am not forcing you to. If you don't like gay stuff, I feel sorry for you, really I do. This isn't true. It is fiction. Don't email me saying "How did NSYNC get super powers? I want some too!" Ahh... Oh! I don't make any claims on knowing the status of NSYNC's sexual preferences. I can hope and dream though. Well... that's about it. On with the show!
Last time on "The Next Stage"
After a few hours of movies the group decided that they all needed sleep and it was time to go to bed. A moment after they had gotten to their respective rooms, Justin started screaming. Lance's room was next to Justin's, so he was the first to run out and see Justin being held in the air by some force. Within seconds the rest of the guys came out to see what was wrong with him. In the next moment they knew why. A small child with glowing red eyes and long white hair floated out of the room.
All he said was "Hello."
And now Chapter Two...
"What... who... who are you?" JC stuttered. The child looked over to JC and lowered Justin.
"I don't have time right now. You are all in great danger. Please trust me. I need to get you all out of here at once. Your lives depend on it." The child replied. They all looked at him for a moment. Chris was the first to speak.
"What the FUCK is going on!?! How did YOU get up HERE!?! And How the HELL are you FLOATING!?!" Just then there was a crack of thunder and a large figure dressed in skintight leather appeared in the hallway about 50ft down. She slowly moved down the hall, her long blond hair was constantly flowing like it was being blown by a gust of wind. Her eyes were glowing black and she started to speak.
"Sorry Joshua, You got here too late. Those children are MINE now. Now, if you don't mind..."
"You know what Laura, These kids AREN'T yours and if you TRY to take them I will be forced to defend them and myself." The child stated coldly. He looked back to the guys of NSYNC and said, "Stay behind me." With that she raised her hand, clenched it, and a fireball formed. She smiled and flung it at the child. With a quick movement he caught it and threw it back at her. She didn't expect this and was engulfed in flames. The child looked straight into her eyes and said, "Until next time Laura." She then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The child turned around to look at the guys. "She could be back at anytime. If you don't want to be here when that happens, I suggest that you come with me."
"Okay." Joey said. JC glared at him. "What!?! I just saw a woman appear out of thin air and then fling a FIREBALL at me! I really don't think I want to be around if she shows up again! For some reason this kid protected us. For now I would feel better with him rather than HER!" Joey pointed to the hall where Laura had stood seconds before. "So JC, please stop giving me the death stare!" JC suddenly found his feet very interesting.
"Please, If we are going to leave we need to do it now." They child looked around to Lance, Justin, Chris, Joey, and finally JC. They all gave approving nods. "Alright. Please stand next to each other and hold the persons hand next to you." They all did. The boy floated up higher and placed his hands on Justin and Lance's shoulders. "This is going to feel a little weird." There was a crack of thunder and lightning hit the boy and it passed through the others. Once it hit all of them, it disappeared, as did they.
"DAMN IT," Laura yelled, "I FUCKING HATE HIM" She kneeled in front a person dressed in a long black robe.
"QUIET LAURA," another woman yelled from under the hood of her robe. She stood in front of a roaring fireplace in a medieval looking castle. "I guess from your outburst that you failed."
"Mistress, Please forgive my failure. Please give me one more chance and I will get them for you." Laura groveled.
"Stop your whining." She paused, "You will have one more chance but if you fail me again, you will pay with your life.
"Thank you Mistress! I shall not fail again." She then disappeared.
"You had better not."
Justin woke up to find himself in a small white room. There was a double bed, which he was still in, a small wooden nightstand to his right with a phone on it, a dresser to his left, and two doors on the opposite wall to the bed. He got up to find that the one to the left was a bathroom and the one on the right was locked. "Great." He sighed, "I'm trapped" He looked around and back to the phone. "Let's see if they have room service," he said to no one in particular. He picked up the phone, placed it to his ear, and was greeted to the sound of a middle-aged woman.
"Good morning, Mr. Timberlake. If you shower and dress, we will send someone to take you around the facility and answer a few of the questions I'm sure you have." She chuckled, her southern drawl very evident.
Justin noticed, for the first time, that he was only in a pair of boxers that he had worn the night before. "Uh... Okay." He replied as he put the phone down. He walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer to find the shirts he had packed for the tour. The second drawer had his pants and shorts and the third had his boxers and socks. His shoes stood next to the dresser. He chose a baby blue t-shirt and a pair of khaki pants. He laid them on the bed. He moved into the bathroom, removed his boxers, and hopped in the shower. Fifteen minutes later he was showered dressed and tying his shoes. As he finished, someone knocked on the door. He jumped, not only a little startled. He got up and walked to the door.
"Mr. Timberlake... Are you ready?" came the voice of a woman.
"Yes" he replied. The door opened. A young woman about twenty stood before him. She had blond hair down to her shoulders and wore a dark blue business suit with an ID badge on her left shoulder. He looked at it but couldn't read the writing as it was in another language.
"Hello. My name is Amy and I'll take you to see your friends. Please follow me." She smiled as she took Justin down the hall about twenty feet and stopped. She turned to the door and knocked. "Mr. Fatone... Are you ready?" She asked. Justin heard someone stumble to the door and reply, "Yeah." Amy opened the door and greeted Joey exactly the same as Justin.
Joey leaned over to Justin, "How did get here? The last thing I remember is standing out in the hallway with some kid."
"I don't remember. Hey, did they have all your clothes and stuff too?" Justin replied.
"Gentlemen... We brought your clothes with you because you will probably be here for a while. Once we get the rest of your friends I will answer anything else you need to know." Amy said not slowing here pace to the next room. She got to it, knocked and let out Lance. The next room housed Chris and the last to join them was JC. "Now... Please follow me to a conference room where we can all get aquatinted." After she said this she suddenly stopped and lowered her head.
The guys looked confused and JC walked over to her. "Are you okay?" As he asked this, the child from the night before appeared in front of them, sufficiently scaring the shit out of the boys.
"Thank you Amy. I will take them from here."
"Yes, sir" She then turned and left.
"Please, This way," he motioned to the end the hall and he started walking.
"How did you do THAT? Where the HELL are we?" Justin yelled.
"CALM YOURSELF!" The child's voice seemed to deepen and resonate throughout the building. Justin quickly quieted himself and continued walking until they got to a gray metallic doubledoor at the end of the hall. The child placed his hand on a palm scanner mounted on the wall and after a moment spoke, "Authorization Joshua... OPEN" The door beeped and opened. He ushered them all in. They all looked around for a minute. The room must have been 50ft wide by 75ft deep. The walls to their right and left were covered by hundreds of small television monitors. In the center of the room there was a rectangular table. It sat ten feet from the door and stretched down 2/3rds of the room. At the other end of the room there was a huge window that looked out onto and ocean. "Please sit" He took the seat at the end. Justin, Lance, and JC sat to his right, while Chris and Joey sat to the left. "First Justin," he looked at Justin, "Please forgive me for yelling at you earlier. People usually don't raise their voices to me. I apologize."
"It's okay. Um... Not to be rude but who are you and where are we?" Justin asked in a small voice. He looked to his bandmates for support.
"And how did we get here and how come your eyes are red?" Chris asked
"And who was the girl with the fireballs?" Joey continued
"And what did she want with us?" JC continued
"And how long have we been here?" Lance finished
"Okay... My name is Josh and I am in charge of this facility and right now we are in my office." Josh smiled "but I doubt that's what you meant." He smiled again and continued "This facility is located on the coast of northern Washington." He paused and looked at Chris. "You got here by teleportation and my eyes are red because I want them to be." He chuckled, "Any questions so far?"
"Uh... How did you `teleport' us?" Joey asked while looking very confused.
"I and the rest of my people here have special `abilities' that normal humans don't. Teleportation is just one of mine." He smiled. "I also have telepathic, telekinetic, shape changing abilities... as well as a few others."
"Oh... Sure... That explains it." Joey said still very confused.
"As for the girl, I don't know what she wanted but whatever it was, it probably wouldn't been to pleasant for any of you." Josh paused, "What I do know is that she will try to get you again, so I am giving you this." He pulled out a quartz crystal out of his pocket that was about 1 inch wide by 2 inches long. "If you ever need help throw this at your attacker and yell HELP" He tossed the crystal to Justin. "Well... that's all for now so...WAKE UP!"
"SHIT!" Justin sat straight up. He looked around frantically trying to figure out were he was. Once he calmed down he found himself in his hotel room. He looked at the clock, "5:57." "I gotta lay off the scary movies before bed." He decided to get up and get ready. After he finished showering and getting dressed he heard a knock on the door. A moment later Lance burst into the room.
"Hey Curly, I just wanted to make sure you were up. We have to be out of here by 7:30. We got an interview at 8:30 and then rehearsal from 10:00 till 5:00 tonight."
"Okay Lance. What are we doing for breakfast?"
"I was just going to round everyone up and we could get room service."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll come with you to get the rest of the guys"
"Sure... Hey... What's that?" Lance pointed to a 2" tall crystal sitting on Justin's nightstand.
"What... HOLY SHIT!! That was REAL!"
Well...There is the second chapter of "The Next Stage." It was a little longer than the last one. If you have any comments, questions, or snide remarks send them to MCNorthBoy@aol.com. Thanks for reading!
--Josh--