It was an ordinary day at the Backstreet bus. Kari and A.J. were at each others throats and Brian and Nick were ignoring them. Kevin and Howie were just sitting there doing work. But that was going to change real soon.
"I told you A.J.! You are not suppose to be going through my things! I had them in a nice an neat order and you screwed it up!" Yelled Kari.
"I did not! They were already like that." explained A.J.
"Would you two knock it off? Man, you sound like a bunch of three year olds." grouched Howie. They didn't stop.
"DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"
That shut those two up in a jiffy. But that didn't stop the face making.
"Hey Kari! I need your advice on how to beat Brian at this game!" shouted Nick.
"Not fair! Your not suppose to use outside interference!" laughed Brian. Just as Kari made it to the back, Brian's cell phone rang.
"Opps, I'll be back in minute." He got up and left the back. I took Brian's place and beat Nick at the game. As soon as we finished, Brian came back.
"We just got a very important call and we all need to leave NOW!" said Brian. Nick got up and followed him out the back. She could here Nick whisper something to Howie but she did catch it.
"Can't I come?" asked Kari.
"NO!" they all shouted at the same time. This really shocked Kari.
"No no. It's o.k.. Just a little boring business. You know, planning for the new album and those kinds of things. You just stay back here and play with the playstation." said Nick.
"Oh, all right." she sighed. The guys had just left the area when she remembered something she needed to ask them about the new album.
"Hey guys!...guys?" They were already gone. It was really strange because Kari hadn't even heard the door shut. That had been happening a lot lately. This time though, the comic book that the guys had put out was lying on the table open. Although it had been out a number of times, Kari never even read it. She began to laugh to herself
"What's this doing out?" she went down to grab it and then pulled back. It felt a little warm and funny. She looked down at it again and pushed it across the table.
"I really need to get out more." She turned and started to walk to the back when she heard a voice.
"Lets get her!!!!!"
Kari turned around to find three huge men behind her. They just came out of nowhere. She tried to run for the door but it was no use. Two grabbed her arms and one grabbed her legs. She started to scream when they put something over her mouth to prevent her from doing so.
"We've got her. We're coming back in." said one of the men into a little radio.
"Back? Back where?" Thought Kari. She didn't even have a clue where these guys came from or what they wanted with her. All she knew was that she was scared out of her mind. Then she saw it. The comic book turned into some kind of portal and they were pulling her down into it.
"UMF! LEF MI GU!" She tried
to yell, but it was no use. She kicked and squirmed but I was just no use.
It was three against one. Before she knew it, they had pulled her
in and there was nothing but dark.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"She's waking up. Should we take her now?"
"No! The queen said to only bring her in when she it fighting ready!"
Kari's eyes adjusted to the bright lights around her. When they did, she clearly saw something was wrong. The people around her were not normal. They looked a lot like cartoon characters than people. In fact, everything looked animated. She looked down at her own body. She also looked that way. Plus, she felt kind of weird to. Kind of floaty. She sat up to take a better look when someone grabbed her arm.
"Come with us. The Queen would like to see you."
She didn't want to go with the people, but she was to weak to fight back. The people lead her into this large room. It looked very futuristic. She could see a dark figure coming towards her. She didn't know if it was a guy or girl.
"Release her at once." a female voice boomed. The people let her go and stepped back.
"Ah. You must be the infamous Kari. I have heard a lot about you." said the figure.
"Who are you?" cried Kari. She was fighting back tears. She wanted to know why she was here and why they were doing this to her.
"Why, I'm Queen Sinissta. Leader of this ship. You will come in handy around here. Yes indeed." she said.
"Sinissta? Where have I heard that name before?" She thought. "Why am I here? What do you want me for?" asked Kari.
"Why, only for your help. It seems that there have been some intergalactic hooligans around here. We want you to help us get rid of them." she laughed.
"Why do you need me?"
"We heard about your strong spirit and knew that you would be the perfect one to help us." answered Sinissta.
"How?"
"By wearing this." Sinissta pulled out a amulet. It was much like the ones that the guy got from somewhere. Kari took it from her hand.
"Go ahead. Put it on." she urged. Kari took another close look at it, and then, slowly put it on. It began to glow and vibrate. In a split second, Kari went from wearing a t-shirt and jeans, to a blue future outfit. A crown type thing crossed her head. The arms went down and stopped at the palms of her hands. The bottom of it looked a lot like flared jeans.
"Very nice. You look like me at that age. Not that I ever was of course. Ziden!" A young man came by Kari's side.
"Yes, my queen?" he asked.
"You will be helping Kari on her mission. Go get the helmets from the cargo hold." ordered the queen. The man ran off in a hurry. He soon returned with to helmets that looked more like masks..
"You two will wear these to protect you from being identified on the ship. It with change your voice and they will not be able to see your face. Now, put them on!" Ziden put his on in an instant. He knew what would happen if he didn't. Kari soon followed. The Queen pointed to two spots on in the room. Kari could see very well so Ziden pulled her into the direction of these two plat forms in the floor.
"Remember, get rid of those hooligans!" Sinissta pushed and button and Kari and Ziden were gone.
A few second later, they both found themselves on a different ship. It was a bit smaller than Sinissta's. It looked like they were in a control room.
"Split up. It will make the job easier." said Ziden. He took off in one direction and Kari went the other. She had never seen such a place. She was still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"This is definitely the weirdest thing to happen to me." She said to herself as she climbed one of the ladder. Then it happened.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! BREECH AT SECTOR 13!" The intercom blasted.
"Oh crap!" yelled Kari. She jumped from the latter and made a run for it.
"There's someone down this way! Don't let it escape!" Cried someone from behind. The helmet made it almost impossible to know the voice. All of the sudden, there was a figure ahead and behind her.
"Where do you think your going?" it said. She kept running and found that she had gone through the figure. It had been a hologram.
"I'll get him!" another person dropped down in front of her. It was holding some sort of fireball. Another person came to the left side of her swinging a long samurai sword. Kari ran to the edge of the walkway and just stood there. The people kept coming closer and closer and she kept pressing against the bar. All of the sudden, the bar broke away and she could feel nothing but air around her.
"Help! Help!" she cried as she fell. It was a long way down. When she felt that all was lost, two paragliding wings popped out from the back of her suit. She didn't even know she had them. She grabbed the handles tight and began to glide.
"What the?" said the figures above her.
"I feel kind of like Buzz Lightyear. He he! It's not flying, its falling with style!" she thought to herself.
"Don't worry guys, i'll fix this." There was two very quick flashes of light behind her. Who ever it was had shot at her and hit the wings.
"I told you a would fix it." said a person below her.
She began to fall and hit the floor very hard. Pain ripped through her body. She closed her eyes to brace it. When she opened them again, five 'people' were standing above her. She couldn't see any of their faces. She tried to get up, but the one in red kicked her down and held her there with it's foot.
"You must be evil Sinissta's new recruit. This is a little welcoming party." said the one in black. He turned to the one in red. "Take her to the holding cells. Don't put her in the same one as the other intruder." The red one grabbed her and picked her up. She tried to struggle but it's strength was to great. It took her to a small room and set her down. It walked out and slammed the door.
"What did I do to get myself into this mess?" she whispered to herself as she watched it leave. She was still in a lot of pain from her fall. She suddenly realized she still had her helmet on. She felt around on the chin until she felt a button. She pressed in and heard a click. The helmet just fell off.
"*sigh*, where's Brian and Nick when you need them?" she sighed. She sat down in one of the corners. She winced at the sever pain in her left arm.
"Ow! I'll show that idiot who shot me a think or two when I get out of here." she said out loud.
"If you get out of here." There was a voice in the next cell.
"Ziden? Is that you?" she asked.
"Yes. The queen is going to be very displeased." he said.
"I don't care about that queen right now. Who are these guys?" she asked him, angry that he was only concerned about the queen.
"Well, they come from your world. You know, where the people are less colorful. They are very hard to beat." he explained.
"Why is that?" she asked.
"The process the powers from our planet. One has the ability to jump and almost touch the sky. One can think of anything and project it as a hologram. One has strength like no other. One is a fantastic ninga. The last one is a sharp shooter." he said.
"Oh. I couldn't help thinking that I know them somehow. Like we've met before. Weird huh?" she laughed.
"Really weird."
They both turned when they heard the noise of footsteps. Kari jumped back and sat back down in the corner. That was a mistake because it hurt her arm even more. She could see the shadows and could tell all five of the people were there.
"The male is in cell one and the female is in cell two." One of them said.
"Let's question the female first. They always give in." Said another. The voices were very familiar without the helmet on. The footsteps came closer and she heard a key going into the door. She squeezed her eyes shut as the door opened and one came in. Then there was dead silence.
"Oh my god." said one of them. Kari slowly opened her eyes and was shocked at what she saw. Nick was standing above her. Only, it wasn't the Nick she knew. He was the person she saw in black.
"Nick? What the heck are you wearing?" she asked him.
"How did you get in here? We told you to stay behind."
Kari tried to get up but fell back down. The pain in her arm was horrible. Nick kneeled down beside her. She could see the others behind him.
"She's hurt! Most likely from that fall. Brian, Kevin. Go up and get something to make a sling." shouted Nick. Brian and Kevin ran from the room. Nick, A.J. and Howie tried to comfort her.
"I am so sorry I shot at you Kari. I didn't know it was you." cried A.J.
"That's o.k., I didn't know it was you guys either." She tried to reassure him. The pain was so much that she began to shiver.
"Here. This should help." Howie wrapped his cloak around her. It helped a little bit. Brian and Kevin with a scarf looking thing. Nick tied it around her neck and put he arm through it. It felt much better.
"Now, lets take you up to the main hold. You have a lot of explaining to do." said Brian.
"Well so do you! All those times you guys lied about where you are!" She yelled. The guys all looked at each other. Then just started walking again.
"HEY! What about me?" asked Ziden. Kevin turned around and looked him in he eye.
"Your the one who got Kari into
this mess. You can just stay down here." Before Ziden could
say another word, Kevin slammed the door behind him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Now tell us, how exactly did you get in here?" All of them were up in the commanding area. Howie and Nick were driving the ship.
"Well, I was on the bus like you said. I went back towards the front to ask you guys a question, but you were already gone. I saw the comic book on the table but I just pushed it a little. All of the sudden, there were these huge men and they grabbed me and pulled me in. Then they took me to this queen lady who gave me this necklace that changed me. She send me and Ziden here and now i'm talking to you guys. Enough." she explained. "Now your turn."
"Alright fine. You know that girl that works as stage manager?" asked Kevin.
"Yeah."
"Well, she brought us these amulets to try and save the earth. Queen Sinissta wanted to get rid of us. We put these on and bam, were superheroes."
"But this it a different place. How can she destroy the world?" asked Kari who was very skeptical.
"Well, everything that happens in here to the earth, happens in really life at home. Understood?" explained Nick.
"Oh. That's why. Now, what made you like this?" she asked again. Brian touched his necklace.
"Why, this thing of course." he smiled
"Dude! So those things gave you powers?" asked Kari with excitement.
"Yep. Watch this." Howies eyes began to glow and blue beams come from them. In a second, there was an exact clone of Kari standing there.
"WOW! That's cool!" laughed Kari.
"And i'm guessing that your amulet gave you some kind of power. I mean the paragliding wings can't just be it." said Brian.
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Yeah. I did that to us." said Brian.
"But nothing has happened that's out of the ordinary." she thought a minute. "Hold on, this whole thing is out the ordinary."
"Well its our world and welcome to it." laughed A.J.
All of the sudden, Kari started making weird face movements.
"What's the matter with you?" asked A.J.
"I think there was dust in that cell. I really...really..AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!"
A shot of a laser streaked through the ship and hit the wall. The guys just sat there amazed. They had no idea where it had come from, until they looked at Kari's eyes. They were glowing light blue.
"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing them staring. Brian just smiled at her.
"I think we just found out what you power is Karbear." he smiled.
"What? Nothing happened." said she confusedly
"Hang on a second." Brian went a grabbed Nick's sword. "Now, see if you can shoot this."
"What but Brian..." she stopped. She felt a weird energy surge in the back of her eyes. She concentrated on the top of the sword. She felt the energy come out and a laser hit the sword.
"DUDE!" she yelled. "I wonder what else I can do."
"Zanelle was telling us about this amulet. She said something's about lasers, X-Ray vision and being a human flashlight." said Howie.
"Lets try X-Ray first." said Kari. She began to concentrate on a wall in the ship. Nothing happened.
"Try again. It doesn't always work the first time." urged A.J. She tried again. This time, little waves vibrated from her eyes. Now she could see right through the ship.
"Man this is cool!" she kept looking. Her smile soon widened. "I wonder." she turn towards the guys. Kevin put his hands over her eyes.
"If your thinking what I think your thinking, don't even try it." He laughed. Kari returned her eyes to the wall and looked through it again to make sure that this was real. This time she saw more than stars.
"Ah, guys? I see a really big ship out there." she trembled.
"Don't worry about it. We can see it to. Time to pay Sinissta a little visit." said Howie.
"How can I? Look at me. My arm is in a sling and my parawings have laser holes in them." sighed Kari.
"The parawings would have already repaired themselves. Plus, it wasn't your good arm that got hurt." smiled Brian. Kari thought for a moment.
"Alright. But promise me this. I can get all of the revenge on her as I want right." said Kari.
"Yep."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure they wouldn't find us?" asked Kari.
"The ship shows up on there radar as one of their own. Most likely not." replied Nick.
"Now, come on guys. She can't be that bad, can she?" she asked again.
"Yes Kari, she is. Her people know her as the Queen of Death." said Kevin.
"Well I call Nick the brother from heck but that doesn't mean he really is." she shot back.
"You'll understand later." sighed Nick.
The corridor that they were going down began to get darker. Soon, they couldn't see each other or anything else.
"MAN! And we don't have any flashlights. Who just grabbed my arm?" said Brian.
"Don't worry, it's just me. I don't like the dark." said Kari.
All of the sudden, there was a flash of light and the room illuminated bright. At first they thought A.J. did it but his laser guns were in their holsters. Then they turned to Kari. Her eyes were glowing brighter than a Christmas tree.
"Cool. Three powers in one." she said. She did the biggest mistake by looking into Brian eyes. He looked away as fast as he could.
"KARI! Don't do that! Aw man, now i'm seeing dots." He nearly fell to the ground.
"Opps. Sorry there B-Rok. I'd better walk ahead of the group." she suggested. All of the guys nodded to that and the began to walk again.
"Look! I think there's a doorway down here." whispered Kari.
"Shut off your lights! There might be someone guarding the door." Kevin whispered back. Right when Kari made the lights go out, someone appeared in the doorway with their own light. But Howie was one step ahead of them. He made a hologram of the hallway to give the illusion no one was there.
"Must have been your imagination." said the guard. He returned to his post and Howie cut the hologram.
"That was close." whispered Nick. "Almost to close."
"I don't know about you guys, but lets conk em and keep moving." whispered Kevin who was annoyed.
"Good plan." replied Kari.
They all walked to the doorway and grabbed the guards. Nick and Brian proceeded to knock them out.
"Huh. That was easy." laughed Kari.
"That's the fun with having super powers. Now come on, I've got one of their lights so you don't have to use yours." said Nick.
"Good. Doing that kind of drains the energy." she replied.
"We're going to have to work on that." said A.J.
They went down a hallway where it split into tow different place. Brian, Howie and Kari went down one and Nick, Kevin and A.J. went down another. There was no need for lights here so they just ditched the one they had.
"You know guys, I was wondering. Now I know that this is a bad time but...."
"But what Kari?" asked Howie.
"Well, what would happen if we, you know, switched amulets? You know, just to try it out?" said Kari. They guys just looked at each other.
"You know, we have never thought of that." said Brian.
"Well, lets try it. It might confused that queen person. What do you say?" she asked.
"I don't see why not, on the count of three. 1...2....3!" They all took off their amulets and returned to normal. Then Kari gave hers to Brian, Howie gave his to Kari and Brian gave his to Howie.
"Again, on the count of three. 1....2.....3!" yelled Brian. They all put them on and there were streams of light. They all looked at each other. Kari was wearing a smaller version of Howie's cloak and arm cast. Brian had on a guys version of Kari's suit minus the crown thing. Howie had the athletic stuff on and was holding the fireball.
"It worked! This is so cool!" laughed Howie.
"Trust me. These are the weirdest events that have ever happened to me in my life." smirked Kari.
"Don't celebrate to soon guys, look!" Two giant robots were heading their way. Their guns began to go off and the guys scattered. One ran after Brian and Howie, the other, Kari.
"HELP! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP!" she screamed as she tried to out run the huge machine.
"Destroy the puny being." The big monster yelled as it gained on her. She tripped and fell face first to the ground. She tried to get up but its kind of hard with only one arm. She flipped over to see the robot right over her and was reaching down to grab her. She wished that she had her own amulet right about now.
"GUYS! HELP ME! WHERE ARE YOU?!" she screamed as the robot took her with it's giant claw like hand. It covered up her mouth to muffle the screams.
"This one to queen." it said as it rolled through the command area. Tears rolled down Kari's face. She had never been so scared. She didn't have her original amulet and she didn't even have the sense of reality anymore. She just wanted to leave this world and go back home. Back to where it was safe. The robot stopped at this one doorway. A guard walked up to it.
"Take her and put her with the others." he ordered.
"Other? Oh my god, they didn't catch the guys, did they?" she thought to herself. The robot took her into this brightly lit room. It opened its hand and Kari fell to the floor. She winced in pain because she landed on her bad arm. The robot left the room and the doors slid shut behind it.
"Who's there? I demand to know." said a voice behind her.
"Me. Kari." she answered.
"Kari? Are you alright.?" It was Nick, Kevin, and A.J. they had all been caught. Apparently Brian and Howie got away. They all were looking at her funny.
"Now, first we find you in one of our jail cells, now we find you wearing something like Howie's.
Kari caught her breath. "We switched amulets to see what would happen. I got Howie's and it worked."
"Then who has yours?" asked Kevin.
"Brian. I really wish I didn't give that to him. I could have fought that thing off myself." she said sadly.
"Hey now, use three are a lot strong then you alone. We weren't able to fight them off. You would still be now match for them." comforted A.J.
"We have to get out of here. NOW!" she yelled.
"Don't you think we've tried? There's no way out." said Nick.
"Oh really? Take a look at the door." she said with a big smile on her face. They all looked.
"I don't see anything." said Kevin.
"Well then take a better look." she said again. They looked again. A.J. spotted something balled up in the door. Like a scarf. He turned back to Kari and noticed that her sling was gone. She was just holding her arm.
"Evidently those robots aren't to smart. I jammed it into the door when he brought me in. Do you think you can pull it open?" said Kari.
"I don't think, I know." said Kevin. He went up to the door and easily pulled it open.
"Come on, move!" They all ran through. Kari even had enough time to grab the sling before the door shut. She put it back around her neck and put her arm through.
"We have to find the others and get the heck out of here." said Nick.
"Oh, leaving so soon? The fun has just begun." The walls gave way to reveal that the hallway was actually the queens throne.
"You little traitor! How dare you go against me!" she yelled looking at Kari. There was a hint of evil in her eyes.
"How can I be a traitor? You wanted me to destroy my friends." yelled Kari.
"So? I'm evil, I don't really care." Her eyes glowed with wickedness.
"Aw. Started the party without us? Oh well, guess we'll have to crash!" Came a voice from above them. It was Brian. He jumped from his hiding spot and began to glide down. Howie jumped down from where he was at.
"Hey there queeny. Have your Midol P.M.S formula lately? asked Howie.
"How dare you insult we you dirty little human!" she screamed. Her body began to change. She began to look more like a demon than a person. As soon as Brian landed, she was bigger than their ship.
"Quick! Switch back!" yelled Brian. The three whipped off the amulets as fast as they could and got their old ones back.
"Guns loaded and ready!" A.J. laughed as he began to shoot at the hideous monster. Nick fended off her attacks with his nun chucks. Howie was trying to use the art of confusing. Brian was slamming her with his fireball, just missing getting hit by the queen. She came very close to killing Nick.
"Kevin! I've got an idea!" Kari ran over to him. "When I say now, you throw me as hard as you can into the air."
"What?" he shouted.
"Just do it!" she screamed. He linked his fingers and she put one of her feet into his hand.
"NOW!!!" she yelled and he threw her into the air. She came very close to hitting the high ceiling. Her wings deployed and she looked down at the fight just in time to see Nick go flying into the wall at a fast pace. He didn't get up.
"Nick NO!" she screamed. She controlled her wings with one hand towards the queens head. The queen didn't see her.
"HEY SINISSTA! EAT THIS!" Sinissta looked up. Kari sent a flash of light right into her eyes. The queen screamed in agony. Her claws went up to her eyes. Kari didn't stop there.
"THIS IS FOR TRYING TO PUT ME AGAINST MY FRIENDS!" Kari gave her a laser on the side of its head.
"AND THIS IS FOR HURTING MY BROTHER!" She let out a long jolt right between the queens eyes. She wouldn't let up until all of her energy was gone. The queen did nothing more. She began to shrink down to normal size and shape. Kari glided down to the ground. She landed hard and collapsed to the ground.
"Kari! Nick!" yelled Brian and they all ran over to her and her brother. Nick was out cold and she was half in half out. She looked up at the guys.
"I did it." she whispered. Her eyes shut and she was out like a light.
"We better take these two back and get them fixed up." said Brian.
"What about Sinissta?" asked Howie. They all turned around to find that she was gone.
"Don't worry about her now. We'll she her again sometime. I guarantee it." said Kevin.
He went over and picked up Kari. She was sound asleep.
"If it weren't for her, we might
not have made it." he said looking at the others. They all
nodded. Howie and A.J. took Nicks arms, put them around their shoulders
and carried him out of the throne room back to the ship.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kari woke up to find that she was on the bus. She was back in her normal clothing. She could remember what happened but it all seemed like a dream to her. She even convinced herself it was a dream.
"Well finally. You've been asleep for at least two hours." Brian walked in with s smile on his face.
"Man B-Rok, I had the craziest dream. You guys we're all there and we we're dressed really funny. And we had powers. Weird huh?" she said.
"Ya. And you want to know the weirdest part?" he asked her.
"What?" she asked.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "It wasn't a dream." He smiled at her. She just backed up.
"So, what happened, really happen?" she asked with worry on her face.
"Yep. Every single minute of it." he laughed. "Right guys?" She didn't notice the guys were behind him.
"Yep. You saved all of our butts. We owe you one." said A.J.
"How's your head Nick?" she asked.
"Better. Still needs a bit of ice." he laughed.
"Now, since that wasn't a dream and I really have the amulet giving me special powers, how about joining the group? You know, a little helping hand?" She asked hopefully. The guys all looked at each other.
"What do you say? Should we let her in?" asked Brian.
"I say group huddle." said Kevin. They all gathered in the hallway of the bus. Kari tried to hear what they were saying but couldn't. They came back and they all had a snide look in their eyes.
"Well, we talked in over and we decided........" Brian paused to give Kari more grief. She gave him a mean look. "...That you can join the Backstreet Brigade." Kari jumped up and screamed with joy and almost forgot she had a hurt arm.
"AWWWWWWW! This is so sweet!
DOG PILE ON KARI!" yelled Nick and the all jumped on top of her.
Kari was having so much fun. She was now a superheroine. She
could do anything. But she couldn't help think that they forgot something.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello? Is anybody here? Somebody? It's your old pal Ziden! Does anybody hear me? Hello?" The door to his cell swung open.
"Oh thank Venus! You finally remem..." he stopped in mid sentence.
"Oh no!" he murmured.
He knew that was the last time anyone was going to see him. Because
in space, or a comic book world, no one could here him scream. Or
the female laughter after it.
THE END!