The Super NKOTB
by Kittie

Episode Eight - Black Hole
by Kittie and Sheila

"'By the pricking of my thumbs/something wicked their way comes,'" rasped a deep, sinister voice. An evil chuckle filled the air.

~*~

Joe suddenly shuddered so violently that he first hit a bad note, then stopped singing altogether, his skin visibly showing goosebumps. He couldn't stop shaking. At the same time, Jonathan froze. Right in the middle of a word. The blood drained from his face and his eyes went wide with fright and shock. The music ended in a clatter and ear-popping screeches.

"Man, what's up with..." Donnie said, annoyed. He cut himself off as he and the rest of the group just stared at the pallid duo.

"Something's up," Danny said quietly, with wary suspicion creeping into his voice and onto his face.

"Oh man...," Jordan stared, a slight hint of panic on the edge of his shaky voice. "Looks like they're in shock. We gotta get them sitting down. C'mon..."

"We're okay," Joe giggled, unfocused eyes turning in Jordan's general direction. "We're peachy."

"Hurry!" Danny snapped. "This is worse than what we thought!"

"Yeah," Donnie half-joked, "not even Joe would say something like that."

"Later for the silliness," Jordan chided as he laid one arm across Joe's shoulders and guided him out of the recording room, and into the "dressing room" where they took their breaks. He carefully situated Joe on the couch, and began running water through the coffee pot for hot cocoa. Donnie guided Jonathan in and sat him next to Joe.

"Man, what a familiar sight," he commented in wide-eyed disbelief. "Only this time... it's Jon and Joe."

Upon hearing his name, Joe turned unfocused eyes in Donnie's direction, raising his eyebrows in a bemused expression. "Hey! Guess what, fellas?!" he asked with a slur. Then, in an ominous voice, he continued, "Spooky-Guy is back! And boy oh boy is he ever minus a soul!"

Jonathan nodded his dazed agreement. "He's coming."

It was his tone of voice that sent chills up the others' spines. It was a complete contrast to Joe's. Jonathan's voice was flat and dead, just like the expression on his face.

After a moment of shocked silence, the other three men leapt into action. They wrapped blankets around Joe and Jonathan's shoulders and pushed mugs of hot cocoa into their hands. Joe slowly began to come out of his shock, and managed a few sips from his cup. "Mm."

Three sets of eyes shot stunned looks in Joe's direction. "What? Joe, are you okay," Jordan quickly asked him. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, I guess. But this stuff tastes like shit." He paused uneasily and looked suddenly at Jonathan. "Hey," he said, nudging him. "Snap out of it, bro, come on! You can't sit there like that forever." When he didn't get a response, he lightly slapped Jonathan's cheek. "You know," Joe said with a mischevious look, "I always thought you were too wimpy to handle a lot of stress."

"Just be glad I'm too weak to move, otherwise you'd be across the room, little boy," Jonathan muttered, without blinking or changing his expression.

"Yeah... and I'm Tinkerbell."

"Hey...." Donnie exclaimed quietly. "Joe, how'd you do that, man?"

"Do what?"

"Snap Jon out of... whatever he was in."

"Uh... I nudged him?" he half asked, face scrunching up in confusion.

"Yeah, but that wasn't enough of a nudge to move a fly," Danny said.

"Well, I nudged him with my head."

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Danny asked.

"I pushed his brain."

Donnie gave Joe a weird look.

"What he means," Jonathan said sluggishly, seeming to shake himself back to reality, "is that he somehow managed to... press his thoughts into mine."

"Yeah, man, it was the weirdest thing I ever felt! I mean, I was thinking at him, and suddenly... I couldn't push my thoughts any further. So I nudged him with my elbow instead." He demonstrated with another elbow at Jonathan's ribs.

"Quit nudging me," Jonathan muttered. "That hurts."

"Man, you guys aren't making any sense," Donnie stated, and Danny and Jordan nodded their agreement.

"I am too!" Joe argued, but Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait...." he closed his eyes and sighed, gathering his thoughts. "I think it has to do with my... my tele- tele- ... whatever."

"Telepathic abilities?" Danny promted.

"Right. I always confuse that one and the thing where I move things."

"That's telekinesis."

"Right. Tellykinesis. Got it."

Danny didn't bother to correct him.

"Anyway... It was weird. I got this strange feeling, a lot like the one I get when Joe's wandering around outside of his body. Only this feeling was... menacing. There was just this intense darkness.... I couldn't see or hear anything else, it just seemed to envelope me. It was like it was pulling me in. There was something within that darkness.... I could feel him.... Spooky-Guy... he was there. And maybe something even more... it was hard to tell."

Jordan gulped, feeling distinctly uneasy at this revelation.

Danny looked thoughtful. "Go on," he nodded.

"Well.... Anyway, I could feel nothing but this evil presence. It was pulling on me, but I knew that if I went in, I'd drown. I could almost see a... a boundary of sorts. And I knew that if I crossed it, I'd be dead. I tried to stay back, but whatever was pulling on me... it was like a black hole."

Jonathan paused as his words and imagery sank in. Everyone nodded in quiet comprehension, and he continued.

"It was like I was being hypnotised. You know how in dreams sometimes... nightmares... you know you should be scared, but you're not? It's just normal? That's what it was like. I knew I was in serious trouble, but there was nothing going on... inside. Just as I was about to get sucked in, there was this bright light in front of me. It was like a comet, it just shot past me, it broke the spell. At the moment that comet disappeared, I got this image of a door slamming and I snapped out of it. That comet, that door... that was Joe."

"Whoa...." Donnie breathed. "Heavy."

"Yeah," Jonathan said, looking gratefully at Joe. "I guess when you spoke to me, that was the comet. The nudge you sent me was the door. I didn't hear you speak, I just felt your presence. ... I think you saved my life. Thanks."

"Oh, uhh... no problem," Joe muttered, blushing slightly.

"Wow," Donnie said quietly in the silence that followed. "I guess you were making sense, Joe. In a weird kinda way."

"Yeah, we're sorry," Danny added. "We wouldn'tve made fun if we'd known how serious you were."

"Oh, that's okay," Joe shrugged. "I didn't know what I was saying anyway."

"Figures," Jordan snorted, and a cushion from the couch hit him right in the head.

~*~

"Robert, come in here," hissed a low, gravelly voice. "Quickly now, don't dawdle."

"Yes, sir," answered the tall man dressed all in black. "I visited them at the studio, sir. I hid in the shadows, as always, but I think.... I think two of them saw me."

"I know." A pair of blood red eyes glared malevolently at him. "Robert, why didn't you tell me there were two telepaths?"

"Two-? No, sir, I swear, it's just the one. I've been watching—"

"I almost had him!" The evil being slammed a fist down on the arm of his chair, causing his underling to jump. "Something pulled him away from me. Nothing but another telepath could have done that!"

"I... I'm sorry sir, I-"

"No matter." He calmed down immediately, drumming clawed fingertips on the tabletop. He leaned forward into the light, and the tall man gasped as his twisted features came into view. "I will have them. Once I've absorbed their powers, I'll be unstoppable. Then I'll kill the one I lost today—slowly and painfully." He smiled thinly, imagining. Then he looked up at the tall man. "So... what news? You still insist that Joseph is powerless?"

"Yes, sir, there's no news. I have told you everything I know."

"I cannot accept that," he mused, frowning. "Perhaps he was the other telepath I sensed...."

"I didn't see anything that would—"

"You are woefully inadequate."

"I'm sorry—"

"Yes, you are. Leave me, I will contact you when I need you again."

As the tall man hurried from the room, trembling slightly. Behind him, the room filled with evil laughter.

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