It was a dark and stormy night, as the limo drove along the deserted highway. Inside it were five guys, who formed a singing group – a singing group called the Backstreet Boys. They were on their way to the next town, and had rented a limo to take them there, as their buses had mysteriously broken down all at the same time. They suspected foul play, but no one knew for sure.

“Are we there yet?” Nick, the youngest member, asked for the zillionth time that night.

“Nick, does it look like we’re there yet?” Kevin, the oldest member, snapped irritably. “Now, for the last time, shut-up!”

Nick sighed heavily, as did I.

Who am I you ask? I am Howie Dorough. I’m the second oldest in this group, and am known for being the peacemaker amongst us. Which some days, is more of a trying task than one would think. Today was starting to become one of those days.

“Guys, relax, okay?” I told them, before a heated argument were to end up breaking out. “We’re all tired, cranky, and annoyed by our predicament; but at the moment there’s nothing we can do about it. So why don’t we all just sit back, relax, and try to get some sleep before we hit the next town and have to perform. We’re no good to our fans when running only on adrenaline.”

“I think some of us are too scared to sleep, D.,” A.J. piped up, cocking his eyebrows and looking over at Nick over the tops of his sunglasses. Yes, sunglasses. Middle of then night and the man is still wearing them. “I think someone’s scared the gremlins are going to get him. Oooh!”

“Bone, shut-up,” Brian cut in. “Just leave Frack alone, alright? He’s not the only one not liking this storm at all here.”

“Ha! Chickens!” A.J. cackled. “Buck! Buck! Buck!”

“Alex!” Kevin snapped, his patience wearing thin. “Enough!”

I nudged my best friend in his side with my elbow, seeing as he was sitting right next to me. “Don’t provoke him,” I warned. “Now’s not a good time. I’d rather we all get there in one piece, without bloody noses.”

A.J. rolled his eyes. “Like he’d hit me in the face,” he scoffed. “Everyone knows us ‘pretty boys’ can’t be hit in the face. Our faces are worth millions upon millions of dollars.”

“Maybe ours are, but yours sure ain’t,” Nick joshed, smirking over at the tattooed rebel at my side. “I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately?”

A.J. gave a low growl, which turned into a yelp when I jabbed his side harder than I had the last time.

“Don’t take the bait,” I told him. “And don’t dish out what you can’t take back.”

Brian stifled a chuckle, as him and Nick resumed watching the storm out the side windows; Kevin closed his eyes once more to try and sleep, and A.J. crossed his arms over his chest as he slouched down in his seat. Yes, all was just peachy keen in the Backstreet world.

All was silent for quite some time, until suddenly our limo came to a screeching halt, causing us all to jerk forward, backward, and sideways – thank God for seatbelts! Suddenly, the limo began to shake like crazy, making us all grab hold of something to hang onto, though we were all safely strapped in.

“What the Hell!?!?!” A.J. yelled over the loud noises that were suddenly being heard.

“EARTHQUAKE!” Nick screeched, a look of terror crossing his face, as he immediately grabbed for Brian.

I watched as Brian grabbed hold of the younger blond and practically squeeze the crap out of him. Seemed he was more scared than he was letting on, and knew Nick was too scared to realize he wasn’t just holding him for comfort. He was holding him to protect. Didn’t matter how old we got, Brian was still going to look out for his younger friend.

“I don’t think it’s an earthquake!” I finally managed to get out, once I felt my heart wasn’t going to fly out of my chest on me.

“Why do you say that?” Kevin asked, as he hung onto the bar that was right beside him.

“Because our car isn’t on the ground anymore, genius!” I replied, as he gave me an incredulous look.

“WHAT!?!?!?!” The four of them exclaimed, all quickly turning to look out the windows to see what I was talking about.

“Holy shit! Holy shit! Aliens have come to get us!” A voice screeched. Now, with that comment, you would have thought it was Nick who yelled that out, but it wasn’t – it just so happened, those words flew from the mouth of A.J. McLean.

“Now who’s the chicken, Bone?” Brian remarked raising his eyebrows, as he hugged Nick just a little bit closer to him.

The next thing we knew, there was a bright flash of light, and then everything went dark. I didn’t know anything was wrong, until I finally came too and realized nothing looked familiar and we were no longer in the limo we had rented.

“What in the world?” I asked, as I glanced over at my band mates – my newfound brothers. “Alex? Kevin? Brian? Nicky?”

“Hey, what’s going on!” Nick’s voice spoke then. “I can’t get this helmet off!”

“How the heck did we get helmets on?” Kevin wondered aloud. “And what the hell just happened here???”

“Mine’s stuck too!” Brian groaned, as he attempted to yank the terminator looking helmet off his head.

“Fuck!” A.J. exclaimed suddenly, causing us all to look his way. Seems we were all in the same metal terminator outfits complete with helmets, just different colours.

“What?” We all questioned at once.

We watched as A.J. held up a note and read it to us. “Backstreet Boys, how can your mugs be worth millions if no one can see them? You have been chosen to help protect our world, and the world from which you come. Your powers will come to you randomly, and you must harness them before you can use them. You will from now on live in our dimension – dimension Whoddathunkit. Once you have your newfound powers under control, you will be required to report to headquarters for a teleportation device, so you can travel to and from our dimensions.”

“Whoa, whoa! Hold up there!” I said, holding my now metal covered hands out in front of me. “We’re in another dimension?”

“Seems that way,” Kevin shrugged, reacting much more calmly than one would expect. “Go on, Aje.”

“Also, when returning to your world to help protect people from the evil that lurks, you are not under any circumstances allowed to make contact with your families! It is key that you just leave them be, and let them go on worrying! If they find out you are now ‘super heroes’ as you all like to call it, great harm may come to them – harm you may not be able to protect them from,” A.J. read on. “Your helmets will not come off until you’ve been deemed less cocky and self-absorbed. When that happens, then your helmets may come off, and eventually your gloves will be able to as well. But, seeing as you’ve fans here in this realm as well, it is for the best right now that you remain fully covered in your new custom made hero gear.”

“Hey, if we’re super heroes, shouldn’t we get to choose our own costumes?” Nick demanded. “I mean, if I’m going to be a super hero, I at least want a cape!”

“Wait, there’s more,” A.J. said, squinting a bit. “You are also able to fly – but no flying until you have learned how to do so without causing harm to yourselves or anyone or anything else around you. This message will self destruct.”

I tried not to laugh, as A.J. suddenly whipped the paper over in Nick’s direction. Nick shrieked and quickly dove behind Brian at lightning speed.

“Ooh! Cool!” He cried, as we watched the paper burst into flames and disappear in mid-air.

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck here, we’d best start looking around,” I suggested. “I mean, we have to find a place to live, and figure out where headquarters and such is, here.”

“You mean, I’m stuck with these goons as roomies now?” Kevin groaned, jabbing a finger in Brian and Nick’s direction. “I mean, I love ‘em and all, but I don’t want to have to live with them!”

A.J. and I laughed, as Frick ‘n’ Frack both suddenly rushed Kevin, and tackled him in big metallic hugs. Though, seems you can’t hug too well in these suits – Nick’s going to be missing out on that physical contact he likes so much – he’s the one always giving the hugs.

I shook my head at them all, as we started our trek into the unknown. If I was going to have to be stuck with anyone, well, I’m glad it was these guys – though, some days, I may regret having ever had said that. But until those days arrive, this is Howie D. signing - flying off!