"Hidden Surprises"

"Thank you for coming out tonight," Joey yelled to the screaming audience, grasping his band members' hands. "We are… 'NSync!" he finished, bowing with the rest of his friends.

They quickly ran offstage, pulling off their shirts and grabbing towels, scrambling to get to the bus. "That's one," one of the guards said as Justin jumped on the bus.

"There's two and three," he counted after JC and Tammy jumped on the bus.

"How many are we lookin' for?" one of the venue security guards asked 'NSync's security.

"Seven," he answered, counting Joey as number four when he got on the bus. "Two girls and 'NSync. That’s five," he nodded as Chris ran on the bus.

"Six," he smiled, as Isabella jumped on the bus, winking flirtatiously at him. After waiting a couple more seconds, the security guard frowned. "We're missing one!" he called to Lonnie, the other security guard.

"Who're we missing?" he called.

"Lance," he answered.

"I'll find him," Tammy volunteered, hanging from the door of the bus.

"No, Ms. Matthews," the security guard shook his head. "We already have you accounted for, so we don't wanna have to recount. We'll find him."

"Okay," Tammy nodded. As an afterthought she grinned, "And don't call me Ms. Matthews!"

The security guard laughed and started to walk off. As he reached the entrance of the venue, Lance breathlessly ran out. "Sorry," he gasped to his security, "I couldn't get my zipper unstuck."

"No problem," he replied, pushing Lance quickly to the bus, "we gotta get outta here quick, though. That's seven!" he called as Lance jumped on the bus. "Let's head out!"

The bus pulled off, police cars escorting it as it pulled onto the interstate. "Awesome show, y'all," Isabella smiled from inside the bus."

"Thanks," JC replied, still tingling with pent-up energy, "Madison Square Garden is always wild."

"Is it?" Tammy asked, not looking up from her pad where she was furiously scribbling notes as they talked.

"Always," JC repeated. He jumped up, "Man, the moments after the show when we're on the bus are painful."

"Painful?" Tammy frowned, looking up.

Justin nodded. "Yeah," he laughed, wiping some sweat off his face, "you'll be all tired and stuff, but you're still excited, so you can't go to sleep, let alone sit still."

Tammy nodded and wrote that down. "This movie is gonna be pretty good," she mused quietly.

"'Cause you're writing it," Isabella grinned. "Don't forget to call Yasmine, okay?" she added.

Tammy looked up at the members of 'NSync and then back at Isabella. "Did she call earlier?" she asked.

Isabella nodded. "I told her that we didn't see anything today."

"Like what?" Justin asked nosily.

"Like yo' mama and her pimp," Tammy retorted with a defiant smirk.

"You ain't right," Justin shook his head with a laugh. "Are we gonna meet up with Serena and all them later?" he asked hopefully. He loved it when Tammy and her friends were together. The time they spent together had been action-packed and full of fun times.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "For now, you just gotta put up wit' me and Isabella. No Yasmine, Michelle, or Serena for awhile." And for a good reason, she scowled inwardly.

Which brought Tammy and Isabella back to the present, and on 'NSync's tourbus yet again, only without the rest of their posse. Tammy happened to look out the window and saw that they had gotten off the interstate. "What the hell?" she murmured.

Isabella looked up, hearing her comment. "¿Problema?" she questioned.

"I hope not," Tammy said with a frown.

"Where are we?" Lance asked, looking out the window. He saw that the bus had stopped, and they were at the entrance of what looked like a junk yard for cars. "Why are we stopped?"

Tammy shrugged, getting to her feet. "I'll ask James." She walked to the front of the bus and tapped the bus driver on the shoulder. "What's goin' on?" she asked.

"Bus broke down," he droned, a vacant look in his eyes.

"You okay, James?" Tammy asked concernedly, noting the look in his eyes.

"Feelin' fine," he replied robotically, the vacant look not leaving his face.

"Okay," Tammy said, nodding slowly, her mind full of suspicion. She walked back to the lounge/kitchen area of the bus and sat down at the table across from Isabella.

"So what's up?" Isabella wanted to know.

"The bus broke down… I think," Tammy replied, her mind going a mile a minute.

"Oh?" Joey asked. "So what now?" Just then, James entered from the front of the bus. "Hey James," Joey said brightly, "what happened?"

"Bus broke down," James droned again.

"Well," Lance said with a nervous laugh, "you sure picked a great place for us to break down."

"Yeah," Tammy agreed suspiciously. She didn't like the look in James' eyes, and wondered what was going on. She looked out the window and at the sky, noticing a weird, greenish cloud. "What the fuck is that?" Isabella asked Tammy in Spanish, not wanting to alarm the rest of the guys.

The others were lounged around, not worrying. They figured that if the bus was broken down, James would just call for help. They wondered what happened to all of their entourage, but they trusted James and were sure that he wouldn't do anything to harm them.

"No se," Tammy replied, shrugging. "It could be anything." Just then, she happened to spot a figure standing in the distance, and her heart immediately skipped a beat. "Uh, Izzy?" her voice quivered.

"Yeah?" Isabella answered while tying her boot.

"Remember way back in the day when we first got our powers," Tammy whispered, "and we fought that little guy that was so quick and stuff? And we were kinda scared?"

"Of course," Isabella glanced up at her, still tying. "Gentro, not pronounced like Jen-tro. He was one of our first battles. Why?"

"Do you remember what his most distinguishing characteristic was?" Tammy tapped her finger nervously on the table.

"Yeah," Isabella giggled. "It was his big, apple shaped head and his ugly ass face. He looked like a midget that ran into a brick wall. Why?"

"'Cause that's him out there," Tammy nodded to the figure that was now closer to the bus.

Isabella gasped. "That can't be him! He's atleast eight feet tall now. And he's got…" she trailed off.

"Huge muscles," Tammy filled in dryly.

Justin happened to notice the two girls staring out the window and went over to them. "What are we staring at?" he asked, grinning and started to look out the window. His smile instantly dropped off his face. "What the hell is that?" he asked, drawing back.

"What the hell is what?" Chris asked, as he and the rest of the guys got up to stare out the window. "What the hell is that?!" Chris echoed Justin's earlier question.

Tammy didn't answer, but said to Isabella in Spanish, "Uh-oh. This isn't good. We can't let the boys find out about us."

"I know," Isabella replied immediately, echoing Tammy's language of choice, "but we can't let them get hurt, either. What do you think he wants?"

"Us," Tammy answered, a worried frown on her face. She continued, "You know what we gotta do, right?" Isabella nodded.

The guys didn't understand what Tammy and Isabella were saying, but they figured that from the looks on their faces and the tone of their voices, it couldn't have been good. "Who is that guy?" JC asked, his brows wrinkling in confusion.

"Nobody," Tammy sighed, looking out the window at him again.

"Yeah," Isabella chuckled bitterly as Gentro stuck up his middle finger at them, "that's just an old friend of ours. Guess he doesn't wanna play."

"For once, Belle," Tammy shook her head, "I gotta disagree. I think some playtime is exactly what he wants."

"Why is he here?" Lance frowned.

"'Cause he's been lookin' for us," Tammy answered. She and Isabella looked back at the boys and sighed, worrying about the outcome of this battle. Gentro definitely had them at a disadvantage, and the girls saw that he knew it. He glared at the girls, the look in his eyes clearly saying, "You come out, or else I'm comin' in."

"Let's go," Tammy said, getting to her feet.

"Go where?" Chris asked, starting to sweat nervously. "Not out there, right?"

Isabella nodded, getting up also. "Yup," she sighed, "out there. We got some business to settle."

The two girls started to walk off the bus and Tammy turned around. "Don't worry," she laughed, looking at all their worried faces, "we'll be alright. We're just gonna talk to him for a couple of minutes, okay?"

"I don't think I want you going out there," JC shuddered, looking out the window again.

"We have to," Tammy shrugged. Her look turned serious. "But," she glared at them, "I'm gonna tell you once and only once. Whatever happens, do not leave this bus. I'm serious, guys."

"Why?" Justin asked, not caring what Tammy said. All he needed was for the guy to hit Tammy or Isabella once and he was gonna be off the bus in an instant to kick some ass. "Is he dangerous?" Justin raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"For y'all, yes," she nodded.

"The only thing dangerous to us," Chris joked weakly, "is lawsuits with TransCon."

Tammy didn't crack a smile. Instead she looked at Isabella. "Belle?" she asked, her eyes telling her what she wanted.

Isabella nodded. She smiled at the guys. "I want all of y'all to look into my eyes," she commanded. After they did so, she put some heat behind her eyes and said in a powerful voice, "Stay on this bus. No matter what happens, don't get off the bus until Tammy tells you that you can." The five guys nodded vacantly. "Now sit," she ordered.

As the five sat down, Isabella and Tammy walked off the bus. Unfortunately for them, as they stepped off the bus, the power of the boys' love for them outweighed Isabella's command somewhat, and they regained their original senses. Looking out the window, Lance commented, "When did they leave?"

"I dunno," Joey shrugged, "but I don’t think we should leave the bus."

"But they might need our help," Justin protested, even though he had a nagging feeling that he wasn't supposed to leave the bus, either.

"Shh!" JC shushed them, looking out the window. "Watch."

Tammy and Isabella were approaching the strange man, who was a mere fifteen feet away from the bus. They appeared to be talking to him, and the guys waited nervously.

"So," Tammy grinned nonchalantly, walking up to Gentro with Isabella, "what's up?"

"Yeah," Isabella nodded with a smile, "you're looking… good."

"Don't fuck with me," Gentro growled in a metallic sounding voice. He towered a good three feet above them, and was ready for a showdown.

"Now, now," Isabella chided, "there's no need for foul language. Just 'cause your face hasn't healed from the last beatdown…"

"I tire of your games," he snapped, reaching forward and yanking Isabella into the air by her neck.

The boys of 'NSync saw the weird looking creature grab Isabella by her neck and started to go help, but Isabella's earlier command still rang in their head. "I'm calling the police," Lance said, whipping out his phone. A second later, he hung it up with a frown. "That's strange," he said, "my phone's dead."

"Mine too," JC said, trying his.

All the guys tried their phones, hoping that they would work, but had no luck. It was due to the green cloud that hung in the sky. It was an ionic cloud that shorted out all electronic appliances, cell phones, and unfortunately, vehicle motors. Lance looked at the couch and saw James on it, passed out.

"James," he said, walking up to him, "are you okay?"

James didn't answer, and for good reason. He had been earlier possessed by Gentro, and the same effects Justin felt when he was possessed, James was feeling, but to a lesser degree. "What do we do now?" Justin asked with a worried frown.

Back outside, Gentro held Isabella high in the air with his right hand and Tammy immediately jumped into action. "Let her go!" she screamed, running up to him and driving her fist forcefully into his stomach.

"That tickles," he said, dropping Isabella. She tumbled to the ground swiftly and landed with a hard thud. She immediately climbed to her feet, still panting from lack of air, and started to throw punches at Gentro. He breezily pushed her away, ironically resulting in her flying twenty feet due to his newfound strength. She hit the window of the bus with a resounding bang, and the guys jumped back, surprised. "That's it," Justin jumped up, "I'm goin' out there."

"Me too," Chris echoed. Seeing Isabella take such a hard hit broke her spell over them completely.

Tammy happened to glance at the bus and saw the guys run to front of the bus. She assumed that they were going to disobey orders and come out to help them. "Gentro would kill them," she muttered. "Isabella!" she called to her stunned friend. She pointed at the door of the bus as Gentro charged her. "Handle that!"

Just as Tammy finished her sentence, Gentro planted a swift kick to her torso, sending her flying into a pile of old cars. "Shit!" she swore as she landed on the rigid metal. As she tried to get out of the rubble, her muscles screamed in agony. "My turn," she glared at Gentro, who was headed for Isabella.

The boys had seen through another window the mighty blow Tammy had taken, and scrambled to get off the bus, only to find that the door was stuck. "What the hell?" JC asked, as he and Joey tried to pull the door open. "It won't open," Joey cried.

Unbeknownst to them, Isabella had welded the door shut using her power to control the elements, this particular element being fire. As she finished, she turned to see Gentro headed towards her, geared up for an attack.

Tammy had other plans, though, and quickly intercepted Gentro with a foot sweep, tripping him as he ran high speed towards Isabella. As he fell to the ground, Tammy called to her friend, "Run deeper into the junk yard!"

The two girls immediately took off at top speed into the junk yard, jumping over cars and dodging objects that Gentro hurled at them. Seconds later, they were convening behind an old Chevy pickup truck conversing softly. "I say we stop playin' around and just take his ass out," Isabella scowled.

"I'm with ya," Tammy nodded. "Quick battle… no doubt." The two got up and climbed over the truck to where Gentro was waiting. "I was afraid you all disappeared," he laughed.

"Never," Tammy glowered at him. "You can't take us out that easily."

"We'll see," he replied, pulling out two long swords. As they glistened in the moonlight, he added, "After I kill you two, I will torture your friends that are on the bus to find out the whereabouts of the other Deadly Venoms. Then," he shrugged, "I'll kill them, too. I have a craving for it." With that, he jumped high into the air, swords positioned so that when he landed, chop suey would be made out of Isabella and Tammy.

The two friends quickly jumped out of the way, and Tammy rolled to the ground. Gentro immediately went for her, plunging his sword into the ground repeatedly, trying to stab Tammy as she rolled to the left. Finally, he stabbed his sword into the ground directly to Tammy's left, halting her motion. "Time to die," he cackled, drawing his sword up for the fatal blow.

"Not a chance," Isabella grunted from behind Gentro, doing a forward dive on the ground and kicking up her right foot, wedging it into Gentro's groin swiftly and forcefully.

Tammy quickly jumped up and ran to Isabella's aid. "Watch out for him," she warned, "he's a slippery little devil. Way smarter than when we fought him last time." Directly after she said that, they two girls witnessed him picking up a car as if it were light as a feather and winging it at them.

"Duck!" Isabella screamed, pulling Tammy to the ground as the car sailed over him. In throwing the car though, one of Gentro's swords flew out of his hands and slid next to Tammy.

"Holy hell," Tammy gasped, "that almost took our heads off!"

"I say we return the favor," Isabella growled, jumping to her feet once more. She moved out of the way as Gentro hurled three more cars at them as if they were rocks, while Tammy picked up the sword and jumped high into the air, jumping off of each car as if it were a stepping stone in the sky.

Back on the bus, the boys gave up struggling with the door and went back to watching and worrying about their friends. "We've got to get out there!" Justin exclaimed. In the distance, he saw cars flying through the air and a dark figure leaping off of them. "What the hell…?" he murmured.

"Let's do this!" Tammy yelled, drawing the sword as she dropped swiftly to the ground. As she neared Gentro, she swung her arm in a wide arc at his neck, taking off his head as she landed smoothly on the ground.

"That won't kill me," Gentro's head laughed as his body stumbled around, trying to find it's head.

Isabella pushed the body over onto the ground and chuckled, "But this will," letting loose a torch of fire from her mouth and burning Gentro's head to a crisp. She nodded in satisfaction as his headless body stopped twitching. "Kill the head, and the body shall die," she grinned. As an afterthought she said, "I heard that line from somewhere… I wonder where. Oh well," she shrugged.

"You alright?" Tammy asked, throwing her arm around Isabella's neck.

"Kinda," Isabella sighed. "I got a lotta bruises this time around."

"But atleast this time around we didn't get as many as last time," Tammy reminded her friend.

"But we still haven't healed from the last fight's bruises," Isabella argued. She looked at Gentro's headless form and grimaced. "What are we gonna do with that?" she shuddered.

"Dispose of it," Tammy shrugged. She started towards the body. "Let's go."

Isabella shook her head. "Uh-uh," she said. "I ain't touchin' that burnt ass head. That's nasty."

Tammy stared at her in disbelief. "Isabella, you ripped out a girl's heart not even three days ago! You mean to tell me you don't wanna touch a stupid head?"

"That was different," Isabella pouted.

"How?" Tammy challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It just was," Isabella insisted, starting towards the body so she wouldn't have to carry the head.

"Baby," Tammy grumbled, gingerly picking up the toasted head, being sure not to touch it with too many fingers. "This is gross," she complained.

Isabella dragged Gentro's headless body to the car Tammy stood next to. "We're just gonna stuff 'em in there?" she asked, dropping the body carelessly to the ground.

Tammy nodded and popped the trunk of the car with the sword she still had. Throwing the head in, she commented, "I wonder how much the guys saw?"

"Too much," Isabella grunted as she hoisted Gentro's body into the trunk. Slamming the lid with a loud thud, she continued, "Just the fact that they saw Gentro is gonna fuck us up. Plus, I think they saw how hard he hit us. No amount of lies can fix that one."

"What do you suggest we do?" Tammy scratched her head.

"Call Serena," Isabella answered easily with a shrug. "She can erase that from their memories." One of Serena's powers besides telekinesis was that she could erase people's memories, or certain parts of them. The gift was still new to Serena, even though she'd had the power for almost four years, because she very rarely used it.

Tammy groaned. "Man, but Serena sucks at that. When she's done with them, they probably won't even remember their names."

"I know," Isabella chuckled. "But we have no choice. We'll just tell her exactly what to say so that she doesn't wind up making them forget how to sing."

The two girls sat down and started their breathing exercises. After a while, they focused their minds on Serena and sent out a message for her to come to them. Seconds later, Serena materialized in front of them. "Wassup?" she asked.

Isabella lifted the lid of the old car and gestured to Gentro's mutilated body. "Not him," she smirked.

"Oh my--" Serena gagged. "What the hell is that?"

"Gentro, three years later," Tammy answered. "But that's not the problem. The problem we have is an even bigger one." Over the next minute, Tammy relayed the events of the fight, their problem, and what they needed Serena for. At the end, Serena moaned in agony.

"Guys," she whined. "I suck at erasing memories!"

"Told ya," Tammy raised her eyebrows at Isabella.

"I don't care how bad you suck," Isabella rolled her eyes. "It has to be done. Just say this phrase word for word." She proceeded to tell Serena the phrase, making her repeat it until she had it memorized. "You ready?" Isabella asked after Serena had repeated the phrase for the tenth time.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Serena shrugged.

"Okay then," Isabella commanded, taking charge, "let's go."

The three young women walked back to the bus, and Tammy, using the sword she had become so fond of, slashed open the door, and the three women pulled the door open using all their strength. As they climbed on the bus, the boys embraced them in hugs.

"God," Justin moaned into Tammy's neck, "I thought you'd be killed."

"Yeah," Lance agreed, hugging her also. "We were so worried."

"Okay, okay," Isabella rolled her eyes, dislodging herself from JC and Chris' arms. "This is getting ridiculous. Sit down, y'all. We gotta talk."

"Yeah," Joey said as the group sat on the couch. "We wanna know who the hell that guy was."

"And what he wanted from y'all," Chris added.

"And what's wrong with James," Lance chimed in, looking at the still unconscious James.

"And why Serena's here," Justin looked pointedly at her. "Where'd she come from?"

"Serena?" Tammy looked at her expectantly.

Serena immediately droned in a hypnotic voice, "Look at me, you guys. Into my eyes. Look deep into my eyes." They boys did as she said, a blank look immediately crossing their faces. She continued, reciting what Isabella made her memorize, "I want you guys to fall into a deep trance. I'm going to give you some instructions, afterwhich you will fall into a deep sleep. Are you with me?" Five heads nodded slowly. "Okay, I want you guys to forget about ever seeing anything odd happen tonight. I want your minds to block out any memory of Isabella and Tammy being in a fight or in danger. I want…" she stopped, a confused look crossing her face.

"What's the problem?" Tammy whispered loudly, not wanting to implant anything in the boys' minds.

"I forgot the rest," Serena shrugged sheepishly.

Isabella sighed in annoyance, saying loudly, "Stop being an idiot!" The boys immediately nodded.

"Izzy!" Tammy exclaimed. She turned to Serena. "Fix it," she said.

Serena nodded and continued, "Forget that last comment you heard about not being an idiot. Yet," she continued, more confused than before, "don't be an idiot because of it…I think." Tammy rolled her eyes and Isabella sighed again as Serena continued in a more confident voice, "Better yet, forget you heard anyone say anything about being an idiot. Now, I want you guys to forget that James was unconscious and I want you guys to forget that I was ever here. Forget about seeing the green cloud in the sky. Nothing out of the ordinary happened tonight except for the fact that the bus broke down temporarily in this junkyard, and even James is taking care of that right now as I speak. Got it?" The boys nodded. "Good," she nodded. "When I sing this line, you will fall into a deep sleep, waking up only after hearing Tammy and Isabella sing the chorus of Savage Garden's 'I Knew I Loved You'. Okay?" After the boys nodded, Serena sang softly, "A dream… a simple fantasy that I wish was reality. That you'd come knocking at my door, so we'd relive this dream once more." At that, the boys immediately fell asleep.

"Now what?" Serena asked, smiling triumphantly.

"Good job," Tammy said, giving her a high-five.

"Yeah," Isabella agreed. "That was perfect. Now we gotta wake up James' ass."

They looked at James, who breathing was sallow and weak and quickly put their hands on his chest and head. "We have to feed him some of our life force," Tammy said, looking at her friends.

Isabella immediately groaned. "But dude, we don't have any! The fight with Uriel, Tilox, and Gentro almost left us two drained."

"C'mon Belle," Tammy implored. "We can spare some. We'll let Serena pick up the slack. But we gotta move quick."

The three girls closed their eyes and relaxed, focusing on the fifth center, the point of the brain right between their eyes. They collected their energies there and willed it to move down their spine and into their arms and hands. They immediately felt a tingle in their spine, arms, and hands. A golden glow surrounded their hands and James' body, and seconds later, they heard James start to cough.

"Mission accomplished," Serena said, jumping up quickly. "I'm outta here." With that, she vanished just seconds before James opened his eyes.

"What happened?" James asked, getting up slowly.

"Um," Tammy lied, "you kinda fell asleep behind the wheel."

"Yeah," Isabella nodded. "But we won't tell."

"Oh… Well," James yawned, climbing to his feet. "I really appreciate it. I can't afford to lose this job. It's the perfect occupation for an old man like me. I'm gonna go start the bus, okay ladies?"

"Yeah, it's working now," Tammy called as the kindly looking black man walked to the front of the bus.

He turned around, a confused look on his face. "What was wrong with it?"

"You don't remember?" Isabella asked. "It broke down temporarily. But it's okay now."

"Wow," James whistled. "I must have really been out of it."

"It's okay," Tammy soothed. "You work hard. Now get us out of this creepy place."

Seconds later, the bus was back on the interstate and the girls were ready to wake the boys up. "What was that song we had to sing again?" Isabella asked Tammy.

"Savage Garden's 'I Knew I Loved You'," Tammy answered. She continued, "There's only one problem."

"What?" Isabella asked.

"Do you know how the song goes?"

"Nope."

"Me neither."