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(THREE MONTHS TILL TOUR: LUNCH BREAK AT THE LAKELAND CENTRE)

Noisily slurping on his Coke, Chris silently crept onto the massive platform, looking at all the gadgets, bells, and whistles that made up the new NSA stage- his younger friends slowly spreading out from behind him.

“Cool, ain’t it?” Lance said from his friend’s back. It was the first time any of them had been in the arena without all the hustle and bustle of work.

“Yea,” JC replied, distracted. “I could have sworn I saw a camera around here.”

Justin rolled his eyes and started to poke around. “I wonder how this stuff works.” A child in a cookie jar looked more innocent then the teenager did as he picked up a medium sized black box. “What does this do?”

Joey looked up and his eyes went as wide a saucers. “DON’T TOUCH-”

Justin flicked a couple switches, twisted a couple knobs, and suddenly the conveyor belts came to life at a super-fast pace. Mind you, Joey and JC were standing there.

Screaming in surprise, the two brunettes fell onto the black belts, their screams becoming more feminine as they crashed into opposite ends of the stage- JC into a set of speakers and Joey into a spare set of drums.

“Oops?” Justin asked, throwing the controls for the still moving surface to the ground, where it sparked, fizzed, and emitted a mushroom of smoke. “Oops, the sequel?”

“That,” Joey finished, glaring at the tiny plume of black smoke then at the belts, which were moving even faster. Suddenly, an idea struck his lump infested head.

Chris got the same idea and jumped on, laughing insanely as he jumped from conveyor to conveyor and trying to perform the chorography to ‘Digital Get Down’. “Yee Haw!”

“Wrong! All wrong, Chris,” someone called from the front of the stage.

All members of *N Sync stopped all movement. Well, all except Chris, who was thrown off his ride and into the same drums Joey had graced his head with earlier.

Snickering, Wade Robinson jumped on the stage and onto the conveyors. He was about to start moving, but another spark jumped from the ruined controls, causing the belts to move impossibly fast. Soon, he joined JC. “Ouch.”

Lance fell to the ground, laughing. “T-That was...” He could barely force out a coherent sentence as he started rolling around. Unfortunately, he was too close to the edge. “Hah ha.... AHHHH!” was all he got out before hitting the cement. “Owie!”

“What?” came a muffled reply, followed by a hallow swat.

“I said owie!”

Justin looked down at him with a big grin. “Owie isn’t a word,” he said, cringing as the controls again sparked and set the conveyor belts into a faster speed.

“I can too say owie ‘cause I’m from Mississippi,” Lance groaned, looking around the bottom of the stage. “Who said ‘what’ anyway?”

“Dunno. But, I think we should find a way to stop JuJu’s mistake before sumthin’ bad happens,” Wade replied, getting to his feet.

“But, the remote’s busted. How in hell are we gonna stop those things?” JC asked, crawling towards the black box. He reached for it and nearly had his hand around it... but... It started to spark and fizz again, jumping away from JC’s hand and onto the conveyors.

The controls flew off the belts, hit the speakers, then proceeded to smash into one of the control banks. And with that, the harnesses started to go in every which direction and the video screens flick on and off like a TV set.

“Oops, the trilogy?” Justin mumbled, stepping away from what could possibly be the end of his career. Possibly his life.

Suddenly, the conveyor control rocketed out of hiding, still sparking and fizzing, straight in Chris’ head. It fell, but still jumped and hissed angrily.

The conveyor belts seemed to be moving still, but anything that touched it became a deadly missile.

“Oops... I did it again?” Justin said for the thousandth time, looking up at the harnesses. “I wonder...”

“NO!” was the general reply.

zzzt! The controls gave one last spark before finally dying.

“Uh, guys, I think we should get off the stage,” Joey said, looking at the now smoking conveyors.

“Why?” Justin asked.

“IT’S GONNA BLOW!” JC shouted, jumping off the stage and hightailing it towards the other end of the arena.

A fizz from the equipment sent everyone else packing seconds before the fireworks went off. The conveyors erupted and blew, followed by the video screens, which set off the lighting system, that fried the controls, followed by a loud screeching as the sound system fried, which blew up half the stage, which totaled the lasers, which set off the pyro... And for the finale, collapsed the whole stage.

“WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?”

*N Sync and their chorographer looked over at the main entrance to see Johnny Wright standing there, wearing a look of total shock and anger.

“Oops, the saga?” Justin muttered.

“WHO DID THIS?” the manager screamed, still glaring at the destruction.

Everyone pointed at Justin, who cringed. “Sorry. It was only a mistake.” He grinned sickly and zipped toward the nearest exit, Johnny on his heels.

Chris took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Never ever, let Justin near a set of controls again.”

Joey nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Everyone laughed and walked away from the flaming wreck of a stage, enjoying the agonized screams coming from Justin and the crazed laughter from Johnny.


Meanwhile...

“Man, that was great! They never even knew we were there!” the cameraman exclaimed with a grin.

“Well, except for someone’s mistake,” his blonde friend growled.

“What?! Lance said ‘owie’. I thought he said ‘Howie’ .”

The cameraman swatted his shorter friend upside the head again. “YOU IDIOT!”

The man, obviously named Howie, pouted. “But AJ...”

“No buts! That was just plain stupid. I mean, what if *N Sync had found out we were there? Huh? They would have been snooping around our place then,” AJ shot back.

“Cut ‘im a break. You would have said ’what’ if Lance had said Bone,” Brian defended.

“Okay, okay, let’s just get back before Johnny find we’re not working,” Kevin cut in, a wide grin still on his face.

As the fivesome darted for their vehicles, Nick pointed out, “What if they do find we have this tape?”

AJ waved a hand in dismissal. “We’ll talk about it over lunch break.”


Last time we left off, Justin had just blown up the NSA stage after a series of antics during a lunch break. The entire thing was caught in tape by some competition. Now, it’s around the time BSB was making ‘The Call’. They still possess the dreaded tape and are under the impression that their rivals don’t know about it.

Wrong! *N Sync knows alright and they decided to do a little taping of their own...

“Guys! Stop screwing around,” Kevin yelled over the set, his annoyance pointed at AJ.

AJ rubbed his head. “But it ain’t my fault. I keep forgetting to open the door.”

Nick snickered. “I think all that dye it starting to affect his brain,” he whispered to Brian, who emitted a high pitched giggle.

“Hey, I like to see you try to run after someone and open a door at the same time!”

Brian giggled again. “If your doing the scene in that order, then Frack is right. First you open the door, then you chase after someone.”

“Funny Bri, really funny. My nose hurts.” AJ sighed and signaled for another take.

‘The Call’ filtered through the building as the Backstreet wildchild tried his scene again. All went all until... “SHIT THAT HURT!”... AJ tripped over his own two feet.

Nick fell into a set of snickers as his bandmate limped towards a chair. “Rok, your turn,” he guessed.

Brian gulped and slid into his jacket. “Wish me luck.”

“Break a leg,” Howie said energetically. His enthusiasm was quelled by the venomous look AJ gave him. “Good luck.”

Again, the music came on and Brian ran though his part with no flaws for the most part. That is, until it was time for him to act like he was hit with the chestnuts the crew threw at him. Instead of falling, he blinked at the camera, sending his mates into giggle fits.

“You’re supposed to fall,” the director grated out. “Again.”

And, Brian tried it again. The chestnut hit his shoulder and he spun around, making gagging noises. “I’m dying. Everything black, fading... Ugh!” He collapsed to the floor and let his tongue loll out of his head.

“B-rok! Oh no, you killed him!” Nick cried, throwing himself to his knees in front of Brian. He started to furiously shake his friend, laughing as the sandy brunette started to make funny noises.

“Heeelllpp mee-ee-ee! Sto-oo-oop Niiick” Brian yelled. But, he wished he hadn’t when Nick let his head hit the cement. “You jerk.”

“But, you were dead. That chestnut killed you!”

The director sighed. “AGAIN!”

Brian nodded and pointed Nick off the set. He got serious and followed through on his part until he was supposed to look at what had hit him before the barrage came on. He looked at the little nut and cracked it open on the ground. “Yum. Tasty! You guys got anymore?”

“CUT AND AGAIN!”

This time, Brian successfully went through the scene. One down, four more to go.

Nick skipped over to his set, seeing Howie get ready also. Okay, no outtakes till after your shot. The song again played over the speakers as the blonde went though his part in one take. Quickly, he ran down to the ‘door’ and started to pound on it. Unfortunately, in his own little world, he never heard the door open and his fist smacked into Howie’s head.

“Come right on,” the Latino said from the ground, rubbing his head with a grimace. “Poor door, never knew what hit it,” he added, pointing at the now broken piece of wood.

“Ugh!” the director yelled. “Half hour break!”


In the lunch room...

“Y’all have got to stop screwing around! Johnny is gonna kill us,” Kevin all but growled, pacing the floor impatiently.

“But, Nick is the one that slammed me in the head,” Howie complained, shifting the bag of ice around. “And it hurt too.”

“And... I was hungry. it’s kinda hard to work with an empty stomach, never mind the fact that people were throwing food at me,” Brian countered around a hotdog.

“Yeah. And I claim insanity,” AJ mumbled, his voice a little slurred from the ice pack he held on his nose.

Kevin sighed and looked around the lunch room. “Where are we going with this playtime? We’ve got a budget to be working with and a thousand takes for a few simple scenes is not going to please the Boss Man.”

“Whatever. Let’s get back out there and get this done,” Nick said, shifting his own pack around his fist. “Howie, you’ve got the world’s thickest skull. No wonder you never take well to instructions. They can’t get back the first three layers of bone.”

“What?” AJ asked.

Howie jumped up and got in AJ’s face. “See? See! SEEEEEE?! Nick said ‘bone’ and you said ’what’! it just isn’t me! So, you can’t blame me for trying to reply to the Albino!”

“HEY!” rang out through the room, followed by a metallic clang off of a head.

Kevin rolled his eyes and motioned to the door. “It doesn’t bite. NOW MOVE!”


Back @ the sets...

“Okay, Nick... NOW!” the director yelled.

Nick went through the motions of stopping the car and ducking down, signaling the end of the take. Unaware of the still rolling cameras, Nick stomped out of the car and toward Howie and the woman. “YOU TWO NEARLY KILLED ME!” he yelled, stomping his feet and throwing an all around bratfit.

“So?” Howie asked, getting up and walking off set. “Kev, it’s your turn.”

Still throwing his staged hissyfit, Nick stomped off after the shorter brunette. “Stupid, rotten, lousy, munchkin. Thinking he can kill me. I’ll step on the little bugger.”

Howie stopped and glared up at the blonde. “I heard that.”

“Right. I’m scared,” Nick shot back, looking down at the Latino. “Shrimp.”

“I..I... SHUT UP!” the 27 year old shouted, standing on his tiptoes for something shot of a height gain.

Brian laughed and pushed them aside. “Go on cuz.”

Kevin sighed for the thousandth time that day and looked around suspiciously. “Could have sworn I saw a camera.”

AJ gasped. “No way. You powers of observation are killing me. I’m not worthy to stand in such greatness! I never, ever knew there were cameras in here! Oh hail the might Kevvy Kev.”

Brian started to laugh like a hyena while his cousin went over to strangle AJ to death. “Take it easy.”

“Uh huh,” Kevin grated out, throttling his younger friend thoroughly. “Now shut-”

“Hey guys!” someone yelled.

“What,” was Backstreet collective answer.

“Smile!” There was a couple bright flashes before a large set of shadows hightailed it for the exit. “Later dudes!”

Nick looked at AJ, who looked at Brian, who looked at Howie, who looked at Kevin, who glared at the photo on the ground. “I knew it.” The raven haired man picked up the two pictures and threw them on a table. “We were taped.”


In the parking lot:

“Revenge is sa-weet!” Justin yelled, brandishing his Polaroid proudly. “This really captures the BSB’s stupid side.”

Lance laughed insanely, pulling the cassette out of his camcorder. “Wonder how much people would pay for this on Yahoo?”

“Alot. Teenyboppers would kill each other for this stuff,” JC crowed, stuffing something else in his cargo pocket.

“Same here. I’m sure the girl would just die to see Justin blow up the stage!” AJ yelled over the expanse of the parking lot. He waved their tape in the air.

“HEY! I KNEW THEY WERE TAPING US!” JC screamed. “GIVE IT BACK!”

“Never!” Howie shot back. “Unless you give us your tape.”

“Forget it Shorty,” Joey fired, his ego getting rather large.

Howie and Lance, ever the mediators, started to try and work this out. They both knew that the tapes could ruin everyone's careers. But, on the flip side, they knew that it would be great to see the fans’ faces when they saw the tapes.

“Fine,” Lance called, holding the tape in the air. “On three, we throw the tapes and leave each other alone.”

“Fine. One... Two... THREE!” AJ shouted before winging the tape across the lot.

Lance threw his and waited for the other one to sail over. “What?!”

“Security!” Nick shouted, his beck bringing a dozen of guards out from every which direction. “Later,” the blonde shouted triumphantly, waving both tapes in the air.



On the sidewalk...

“Man, were doomed,” Chris whined, kicking a pebble.

“I know. And there’s no stoppin’ them either,” Justin said. “I’m so sorry guys.”

Everyone fell silent as the Grim Reaper of music played with their heads. They knew that Backstreet would put up that tape and news would be all over the place.

Suddenly, JC started laughing. “Oh guys...” he started slowly. “I think I know a way to save our butts.”

“What?!”

JC brought out a black object. “I made a spare.”

Recap: In ’Lunch Break’ we found the guys of *N Sync poking around the NSA stage before Justin blew it to bits.
The entire thing was caught on tape.
In ’Just ’Call’ Already’ we were on set with the BSB as they were making ‘The Call’. After several takes and many more bruises, the guys finally got past their wacky hi-jinx and finished their new video.
The whole spiel was captured on tape also.
For months, *N Sync and Backstreet knew about each others spy acts. And, they have taken the Superbowl XXXIV as their battle ground. They will stop at nothing to get revenge and get the tapes of their misadventures back. It’s war... May the best group win!

THREE WEEKS TO SUPERBOWL XXXIV