2 XTREME:
Those Who Forget The Past
Are Doomed To Repeat It
By Billy Burrew
Bill took one of the caplets and rolled it around in his
fingers then shook his head. "Curious. Who would want to
kill me so badly that they'd attack all of us....?
Chapter 4 Begins Now...
Enya's eyes faded back to their original
Irish green and she pulled her comrade back away from the desk.
The two then sat down in chairs opposite Johnny's desk. "Why
are we fightin'? We're s'posed t' be working t'gether, aye?"
Johnny nodded. "Aye...er...Yes!
We've got common goals, do we not? The subjugation and assimilation
of NSYNC into the fold and the death of their manager."
Sinead O' Connor
and Enya smiled widely, though the smiles did not touch their
eyes as they replied, almost in chorus. "Aye, Johnny! Tha'
we do."
Being cautious by
nature, Bill called his supervisor at JIVE and the band operations
manager Johnny Wright and told them both that there'd been some
serious security problems at the hotel and that he was taking
the guys to another undisclosed location to maintain their safety.
Being equally suspicion by nature, he purposefully omitted a
lot of the details of the "security problem" and omitted
exactly where he was taking his charges. Bill hung up the phone
and glanced down at the tablet of paper that lay beside the
small pile of capsules on the desk in his new room.
"Something's
not right here...it just doesn't add up...." he murmured.
"Yeah...but
what? The whole situation seemed....I dunno...like they were
expecting us...." JC said as he and Justin lounged on one
of the beds in the room.
Bill grunted and
shook his head. "Yeah...that's what I'm finding particularly
vexing. Nobody but the people at JIVE knew we were staying at
that hotel. We had a block of rooms reserved at another hotel
half way across town. Hell....we even had the buses park over
there to throw off any fans that might try to get too close.
I fear we may have a leak...normally this wouldn't be so bad,
if the worst thing that we come up against is some screaming
teenage autograph hounds..."
Lance giggled suddenly,
tittering wildy before smothering his face with his hand.
"I'm sorry.
I couldn't help myself....we still ran into the screaming teenagers....though
they were screaming because of JC's psi-bolts."
Justin chuckled.
"Let's not forget those two old broads....they were trouble."
Chris, Joey, JC and
Lance picked up on Justin's cue and both broke out into song.
"Uh Oh, we're
in trouble, something's come along and it's broke our bubble."
"Yeah, yeah. Uh Oh, we're in trouble, book us a ticket
on the next space shuttle."
Bill groaned and
put his head in his hands. "I'm obviously not keeping you
busy enough if you all had time in the last few hours to sit
and learn the intro to that song. That can be quickly rectified
by adding in a few more additional practice sessions with your
choreographers. Then maybe some longer meet and greets....and
some more radio, television, and newsprint interviews."
The guy's smiles
faded and in chorus they all said, "Awwwww......man!"
Joey leaned over
and smacked Lance on the back of the head. "Yeah! Nice
joke, Poofu! Now we'll never get any more free time."
Lance put out his
bottom lip in mock pout. Bill looked at him and shook his head.
"Oh yeah...that'll
work." Bill said wryly as he got up and grabbed a water
from the mini-fridge.
JC leaned forward
and put his arm around Lance's shoulders pulling him back beside
Justin and himself.
"He could always
stay with us for a while and withhold sex from you."
Bill's eyes bugged
out and he frowned. "Man...that's harsh. Using the old
"sex as an ace up the sleeve card.""
JC smiled and Justin
pulled his arm around Lance's chest possessively.
Bill smiled widely.
"OK then....I'll just move my stuff to a room down the
hall. The one with the king size bed."
JC's smile faded.
"Huh?"
Bill's smile widened
to a toothy grin, "Well. You guys can stay here on the
two queen size beds and I'll move down the hall to the one bed.
Breakfast is at 9 am. I'll see you then."
Bill nodded to the
rest of the guys and grabbed what bags he had and left the room
and its occupants in shocked silence.
As the door clicked
shut, Lance turned to JC and Justin and hissed angrily. "Thanks
for helping, C! Thanks a LOT!"
Chris elbowed Joey
in the stomach and coughed loudly. "Well...better turn
in. It's getting late!" Joey, taking the hint, followed
Chris quickly out of the room.
Lance flopped back
down onto the bed between JC and Justin.
"Well this is
just great." he huffed.
Justin reached over
and began to unbutton Lance's shirt. "It could be. We used
to fool around like this...back in the..."
Justin's eyes glazed
for a minute and then he jumped up. "What the heck was
that!?!"
JC looked over at
Justin suspiciously. "We've never...."
Justin nodded. "Yeah,
we have....something just clicked in my mind....something that
wasn't there before....a memory..."
JC reached over and
touched Justin's temple, melding their minds effortlessly. A
minute later his eyes widened and he pulled away.
"Justin's right!
He's got these fragments of memories that are real...the stuff
in them really happened...but it's like someone's tried to erase
them or lock them away in his mind and it didn't work...didn't
take...so they're still there....and whatever he just did triggered
one of them."
Lance looked at JC
and then Justin, his eyes widening. "So...someone's been
messing with his minds....our minds?"
JC looked at Justin
and nodded. "I think we need to go see Bill. He'll know
what to do."
Lance, Justin and
JC quickly headed down the hall to Bill's room where Lance knocked
on the door.
Bill opened the door
on the second knock, smiling smugly. "Well...that didn't
take long.....oh...hi guys....what's up?"
JC stepped forward
and put his hands on both sides of Bill's head, melding their
minds together instantly. A second later, he pulled back and
Bill blinked. "You're right. There's almost a whole week
there that I don't recall correctly....I see dribs and drabs
here and there..but... Oh.....come on in...let's not stand out
here in the hall."
The guys entered
and sat down all around the room.
"So how do I
get all my memories back?' Justin asked.
"I think I have
an idea...but it'll take all of us melding our minds at once....to...pull
off this blanket that's covering our real memories.
JC telepathically
called Joey and Chris who, in a matter of seconds bounded into
Bill's room, still pulling on their clothes.
Bill snickered as
he pointed at Chris's shorts. "Aren't those Joey's shorts?"
Chris smiled. "Yeah
yeah....like I keep track of his shorts once I get him outta
them."
Lance smiled widely.
"True. I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten
out of bed in the dark and grabbed some clothes and only later
looked in the mirror to realize I was wearing Bill's shirt or
undershorts."
The guys laughed
as Bill's cheeks reddened slightly, then he re-explained to
Chris the reason why they were all called here. Chris and Joey
both nodded as all six joined hands and with the help of the
two telepaths, joined minds.
Bill opened his eyes
slowly and saw himself and the others surrounded by a dazzling
light that glowed just off in the distance of his mind.
"What is that?"
JC asked, pointing to a great towering structure within the
light.
"Let's go and
find out." Bill said and began to make his way towards
the tower.
As Bill came nearer
and nearer to the tower, he couldn't help but think that it
was somehow familiar to him. Bill reached the entrance to the
tower just ahead of the other guys and waited for everyone to
catch up before they all entered. Bill gasped as he and the
others looked down to the center of the large oval room to see
a glass coffin laying in a circle of light that beamed down
from the top of the tower. The guys moved forward into the beam
of light and Bill gasped as he beheld the figure laying inside
the coffin.
"Oh....my!"
Bill said quietly as he looked over and saw the rest of the
guys faces drain of color just as quickly as his had.
"Bill...."
Joey croaked. "It's you...."
Bill nodded. "I
know. It's me...or some part of me....I need to release it.
I need to...."
Lance gasped as the
Bill that stood beside them faded out of existence. "BILL!!!"
Chris screamed and
pointed at the coffin as the eyes of the Bill inside opened
and his hands began to claw at the glass lid of the coffin.
Justin pushed Lance
back and used his powers to pick up the coffin and drop it from
several meters up. The coffin landed with a dull thud. The fall,
however, did nothing about breaking the glass in the coffin.
"OWWW! DAMMIT!"
Bill's voice rang out from inside the coffin. "Justin....stop!
That hurt! Don't try to break the glass like you'd usually break
glass. It really isn't glass, per se.....it's a block someone's
put on my memories...If we all concentrate and use our abilities
together, we might be able to break the glass."
The six men closed
their eyes and concentrated hard and immediately the cracking
of glass could be heard.
"Almost there....just
a little more...." JC hissed, his eyes pressed shut in
concentration, and seconds later the sound of shattering glass
resounded loudly through the tower.
Bill slowly sat up,
as Lance and Justin hurried to his side to help him out of the
broken coffin.
"Bill.."
Lance asked tentatively. "Are you OK?"
Bill nodded and took
Lance's hand and kissed the inside of it, opening his mind to
Lance's and re-cementing the bonds they had once shared in their
minds and hearts.
"Yes, baby.
I'm OK now."
Lance eyes filled
with tears as he felt the love that Bill held for him within
his heart. "Bill..."
Bill stood and placed
his finger against Lance's lips. "Later babycakes. Let's
get everyone else's memories back."
The rest of the day
was spent entering into each singer's mind and shattering the
bonds that held their memories. As the guys finished Lance's
memories, Bill opened his eyes and smiled. "OK. Now I understand
why my first day was so weird...with these memories restored,
it all makes sense now."
"OK" Joey
asked quietly. "Now that we have all of our memories back.
What do we do?"
Bill looked up and
sniffed. "Well, we go back over what has happened and see
if these new memories can help us deduce who's behind the latest
string of attacks. It surely isn't Lou, it would take all of
us together to release his mind. It has to be someone else....someone
inside our organization....since they knew where we were and
where we'd be so that they could attack us."
Justin put his hand
to his head. "Umm guys....I have a bad feeling...."
Bill smiled wryly,
"Telekinesis and precognition....that's an odd combination
of abilities."
Justin smirked and
shook his head. "No...I mean....we have our memories back....and
that's good....cause now we know...but....the guys in Backstreet
don't have their memories back....and they helped put Lou away...so
they're..."
Bill's eyes widened.
"Shit! They're sitting ducks!"
Bill picked up the phone and dialed the number
he got from Lance for Kevin Richardson's cell phone.
"Hello?" rang a deep voice thru
the receiver.
"Kevin?" Bill asked, "It's
William Micheals....I manage the NSYNC fellows."
"Oh, Bill. Hey! Whassup?"
"Just calling to make sure you guys
are doing OK. We had some serious problems here with security
and wanted to make sure you guys were OK."
"Yeah...Seems like we got it all under
control. Did you wanna talk with our managers?"
Bill nodded to himself, "Yeah....who
are they again?"
Kevin's voice lowered impossibly deep, "Enya
and Sinead O' Connor."
A chill sped down Bill's spine and he gulped.
"Yeah, Kev....lemme chat with one of them."
"Hello....Mr. Micheals." came a
light, saccharine sweet voice. "Ah've been waitin' for
yer call."
"Enya?" Bill queried.
"Very good Mr. Micheals. Ahm surprised
ye know mah name."
"Well..." Bill said with a dark
smile. "I used to listen to your songs back when you were....young
and popular....you remember...back in the 80's."
Bill's smile widened as he heard a sharp
intake of breath.
"Yeh little poofter....Ah'll.....Ah'll...."
"You'll what, you old bat?!? You'll
fall down and break a hip?!? C'mon....you're past tense, babe...the
only performer that is more of a washout than you would be that
shaved headed partner of yours."
"Yah little fucker! Ah'll take your
head right off yer neck." screamed a new voice.
"Speaking of the papal picture shredding
sexually ambivalent cue ball. Hello Sinead...."
Bill pulled the phone away from his ear
as he heard an ungodly shrieking pass through.
"Neither of your voice powers can work
through the phone." Bill said with a laugh. "You should
know better."
Sinead hissed. "When Ah see yeh, Ah'll
make your life a living hell....Ah'll make yer suffer yeh little..."
Bill groaned. "Yeah yeah yeah.....make
me suffer, make me pay...pain and humiliations galore.....yadda
yadda yadda. Sheesh....now that we've got the grandstanding
out of the way, can we move along to something more productive
like hostage negotiation?"
Sinead laughed derisively. "You want
to negotiate? You'll be lucky if we ship them back to you in
body bags."
Bill began to snigger.
"What's so funny?!?"
"You two....you're a trip!" Bill
said lightly. "You two wouldn't have the power to make
a decision if you stood in a pool of water and stuck your fingers
in an electrical outlet."
Bill almost laughed as he heard the two women
grind their teeth together.
"How about you two stop jerking me off
and put the real leader on the horn and then you two can go
outside and play in traffic, OK girls?"
Bill listened as he heard the phone being
jerked away from the screaming women and another new voice that
Bill couldn't quite identify came on.
"You want to negotiate, Micheals? Meet
us at the old Kremlin building at Lincoln Park in South Beach
tomorrow evening at 6 pm. Don't be late. We'll bring our boys...you
bring yours."
Bill smiled and then hung up the phone after
saying. "We'll be there with bells on."
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