The Super NKOTB
by Kittie

Episode Three - The Thread

Donnie let out a surprised yelp as Jonathan toppled over, his body hitting the carpet with a thud. "Danny, you killed him!"

Danny quickly reached for Jonathan's neck and counted his pulse. "No I didn't....He's alive, just... out cold. I guess it wore him out."

"He said he had a headache, but noooo, you wouldn't listen...."

Danny shot him a dirty look. "He's fine, Donnie." he sighed. "C'mon, let's put him on the couch." He looked up and realized that the couch was pretty much full. "On second thought, let's put him in Joe's bedroom. We can move them all in there."

"New Kids are dropping like flies," Donnie muttered as Danny picked Jonathan up and started toward the back of the house.

"Get Jordan will you?" Danny called, "He can walk on his own, just help him along. I'll get Joe in a minute."

"Right. Suuure." Donnie turned to Jordan, who was staring at the ceiling with a tiny smile on his face. "C'mon Jay, we're gonna go for a walk."

"A... walk?" Jordan's voice was distant, and his eyes flickered around aimlessly, looking for the origin of this slightly familiar voice.

"Yeah a walk," Donnie continued, reaching down and gently pulling Jordan to his feet. "C'mon...."

Jordan slowly put one foot in front of the other. "Like that?" he asked.

"Yup, just like that. Maybe a little faster though."

"I can go real fast," Jordan giggled.

"I know you can, Jay," Donnie sighed. "I know."

~*~

Donnie looked on as Danny gently laid Joe down on the bed next to Jordan. The three men lay side by side on their backs, on top of Joe's comforter. An evil grin slowly lit up Donnie's face.

"What are you thinking, Donnie?" Danny asked, not really sure he wanted to know.

Donnie began to laugh evillly. "Does Joe have a camera?"

"I'm sure he does, why?"

"Where's he keep it?"

"I don't know.... What are you thinking Don?"

"You look for his camera, I'll take care of the rest."

Danny thought about refusing, then sighed in defeat. Whatever Donnie had planned would get done anyway, so he might as well go along with it. It would probably be good for a laugh later. He left the room in search of Joe's camera.

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, Danny returned holding a 35-mm camera with zoom and found a very... interesting sight. Donnie had rearranged the three slumbering bodies. Jonathan was in the middle of the bed, on his back. Curled up on one side of him, appearing to clutch Jonathan's arm, was Jordan. His leg was linked with Jonathan's. Joe was on his other side, in a similar compromising position. To top it all off, Donnie was now carefully opening Joe's mouth and inserting his thumb.

"Donnie, Joe's gonna kill you when he gets back in there," Danny said, not sure whether to laugh or scold.

"Just think," Donnie said gleefully, stepping back to observe his work of art, "Joe's watching this now and he can't do a damn thing about it! This is payback Joe," he said to the air, raising his voice slightly. "Two can play at your silly games!"

"He can hear you Donnie, you don't have to shout." Danny handed him the camera and stepped back into the hallway. "I'll be back, I gotta go."

Donnie turned on the camera and aimed carefully before snapping off several shots. "Oh man, this is gonna be good!"

~*~

Jordan went to stretch out and found himself unable to. He was lying next to something warm... something familiar....

His eyes snapped open. "Jon! You're visible! You're... I'm...." He slowly realized the position he was in. "DONNIE!"

~*~

Donnie heard the enraged scream from the bedroom and jumped to his feet. Danny barely looked up. "Jordan's awake," he said.

Donnie glared at him. "I heard."

Jordan came running into the room (at normal speed), glaring furiously. "Donnie, what the hell did you—" His eyes widened when he saw the camera dangling from Donnie's neck. "You didn't. No way.... You couldn't have—"

Donnie grinned. "I did. And I've already sent the film to be developed."

Jordan's face twisted into an even more evil look. Donnie took an involuntary step backward, immediately glad Jordan couldn't shoot lasers out of his eyes or anything like that.

"Calm down, Jay," Danny said quickly. "It's no big deal, everyone was clothed."

"You knew about this?!"

"He got me the camera."

"Danny I'm gonna—"

"You can't hurt him," Donnie teased, "He'd snap you in half, Flash!"

Jordan glared at him again and began grumbling under his breath. "Anyway, why's Jon in there, what's wrong with him?"

"Don't you remember?" Danny asked.

"I don't remember anything... we were eating dinner and he disappeared.... Then everything gets fuzzy."

"Oh. Well, to make a long story short, Jon's a pretty powerful guy. He's got invisiblity, telekineses, and apparently he's telepathic as well, because he can see and hear Joe."

"See and hear Joe?"

"Yup, Joe's been zapped out of his body," Donnie clarified. "He's like, a spirit or something. He can't figure out how to get back in there."

"Well I'll be—"

"And Jon's the only one who can see or hear him. Only thing is, it took him a while to be able to do it, and the strain knocked him out."

"Oh...." Jordan thought about this for a moment. "But he's okay?"

Danny nodded. "He'll be fine. Probably have a hell of a headache when he wakes up though."

"What about Joe?" Jordan asked. "How are we gonna get him back in his body?"

"We haven't figured that out yet," Danny told him. "I'm thinking about it."

Jordan nodded, then glanced back toward the bedroom. "Well... I guess I'll go sit with him.... With them. Where's Joe?"

"No idea," Danny shrugged. "We won't be able to communicate with him 'til Jon wakes up. He could be anywhere."

Jordan shuddered. "That's spooky. We're being haunted and he's not even dead!"

~*~

Joe stuck his tongue out at Jordan. "Yeah, and you wish I was, don't you? Jerk!"

He floated back into the bedroom (wishing he was solid enough to stomp) and glared at his own body. "Quit sucking your thumb," he told himself. "And get off Jon, that's disgusting!" He sat down, which in his present state meant he simply folded his legs up indian-style and floated higher up in the air.

Jordan came in and sat on a chair beside the bed. Joe glared at him again. "Go away."

Jordan didn't hear him of course.

Joe turned to Jonathan and spoke, even though he knew he couldn't hear it, seeing as how he was unconscious. "Did you hear what he said about me?" Joe asked rhetorically. "That I always end up unconscious in his dreams? Man... Why's he hate me anyway?"

He thought for a moment, pouting. "Well, he doesn't hate me, he did give me lead on the song.... But still! That was mean."

Then he thought about it and his glare softened. "Well... I guess I can be pretty mean to him too. But I'm still mad at him!"

Jordan leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, then he sat back up and looked around nervously. "Joe, are you in here?"

"Yes I am," Joe answered, floating over to stand beside Jordan. "I'm right here. Hello! Helloooooo!"

"This is giving me the creeps."

Joe made a face at him. Then he decided to try an experiment and walked right through Jordan. Jordan shuddered violently, then laughed slightly. "Wow... guess a uh... goose walked over my grave.... Or whatever."

"No, a ghost walked through you!" Joe cried gleefully. "And he's gonna do it again!"

Jordan shivered again and jumped out of his chair. "Argh!"

"Cut it out, Joe," Jonathan mumbled. "Leave him alone."

"Jon!" Both Jordan and Joe yelled it at the same time, and Jonathan flinched, his free hand flying up to his head. "Sorry," Jordan said quickly, and sat back down in his chair. "What's Joe doing?"

"He was walking through you," Jonathan told him, his eyes still closed.

"Tattle-tale," Joe snapped.

"Shut up," Jonathan told him. Joe stuck out his tongue.

"Me?" Jordan asked.

"No, Joe."

"Oh. Wait... Walking through me?"

"Uh-huh."

Jordan made a face. "Euuww!"

"What's all the noise?" Danny asked, stepping into the room. Donnie followed close behind.

"Jon's awake," Jordan answered.

"How d'you feel, Jon?" Danny asked, stepping over and checking his pulse again.

"My head hurts," Jon mumbled.

"Can you still see and hear Joe?"

"Yeah...." Jonathan opened his eyes a crack and located Joe floating in his sitting position near Jordan. "He's behind Jordan."

Jordan whirled around, wide-eyed. "WHERE?!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Relax, Jordan, he's not a poltergeist!"

"I don't like this," Jordan whined, his eyes flitting around wildly. "I don't like ghosts!"

Joe floated up behind him and yelled in Jordan's ear. "Boo!"

"Cut it out Joe," Jonathan moaned. "Leave him alone."

"What'd he do, what'd he do?" Jordan asked frantically.

"Forget it, Jordan," Danny ordered. "Look, we've got to help him get back into his body. Any ideas?"

"Not me, I'm dry," Donnie shrugged.

Jordan shook his head, still nervous. "Nuh-uh."

Jonathan didn't answer.

Danny sighed. "I have a theory. Some people believe the soul is linked to the body by a single thread. If that's true, Joe might be able to follow that thread back into his body."

"But I don't see a thread," Joe said.

"He doesn't see a thread," Jonathan mumbled for everyone else's benefit.

"Maybe you have to look for it, Joe," Donnie suggested. "Like Jon looked for you."

"Or maybe Jon can find it," Danny added.

Jonathan moaned, fearing another brain explosion.

Joe looked down at his body, curled up around Jonathan's, and squinted. "A thread, huh?" He floated down even closer and stared at himself. "Like a rope kinda thing?"

"A rope?" Jonathan asked.

"Does he see a rope?"

"No," Joe answered.

"Nuh-uh," Jonathan told them.

"Maybe something like a spider web... something thin but strong? I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here," Danny admitted.

Joe growled to himself. "Great, I'm never getting back in there."

"Don't lose hope, Joe," Jonathan told him. He opened his eyes and started to sit up. "I need an aspirin."

"I'll get one!" Jordan quickly volunteered, eager to be away from ghost-Joe. He rushed out of the room.

Jonathan looked over at Joe's body. "Why's he hanging on me?"

Donnie rolled his eyes to the ceiling and began to whistle tunelessly. He was the picture of guilt.

Then Jonathan's eyes widened. "Joe... I think I see the thread....."

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12