As our heroes were at the LADUWS Welcome Buffet dinner, Dorothy noticed that Nick was going over a few musical notes. "You're working on a solo album?" she asked.
"It's called 'Now or Never'," Nick answered. "I signed a solo career, but no worries. I'm not going to leave my boys."
"That's smashing," Dorothy replied, "because LADUWS needs you."
After Ginger came back from tossing out her tray, she had urgent news to disgust. "Guys," she whispered, "that is not A.J."
They were confused. Ginger explained to them that the tattoos on his arms were mixed up, and so was the fact that he got his fellow Backstreet Boys' names wrong. If she ever learned anything from having a sister who worked at a tattoo parlor, they were permanent.
"So are your records," said Cristian coming in.
Behind Cristian was Jalen, who was feeling nervous. "Finish your dinner," Cristian said, "then meet me at my apartment."
XxoxX
In Cristian's hotel room, he got out a government agent with superheroes holding a scale. "Cristian Brand," he greeted, "National Supers Agency. We specialize in covering the identities of superheroes. I've seen the Griff Gals perform your little stunts since the summer of 2001. I have to say, nice job."
Our heroes were shocked because Cristian and his nephew were government agents.
"When did you first realize that we were alien targets?" asked Kevin.
"It all started on Christmas Eve," explained Cristian, "where I was rescuing some Olorrals at COVNET. I was hearing rumors that your singing voices can attract Zallegreans. Fearing that this could be true, I became the host of 'Let's All Dance Until We're Sick.' I couldn't go it alone once you guys had been turning the studio topsy turvy, so I called Jalen and his pet Olorral, Beatbox, to help out."
Out of Jalen's hot dog duffel bag came a tiny dog-like alien out of it and landed on his lap. "This was my Christmas present from Uncle Cristian," he explained, "and the best one of Christmas 2001."
Also, four small penguins came out of the bag. "This must be the Backstreet Boys," said one of the penguins. "Girls at Central Park Zoo talk about you all the time."
"You're even cuter in person," called another.
Cristian introduced them to Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico. They were four penguins infused with magic, making them supernatural. "I met them during a briefing on zoo-keeper cover jobs for animal-themed superheroes," he continued. "I figure that they make the perfect sidekicks for when I do my real job."
They were all curious about why does he call Jalen's pet Olorrall, Beatbox. Beatbox started beatboxing and everyone started floating in mid-air, like in outer space.
"Hey!" shouted B-Rok."I'm a bird!"
"WHEEE!" shouted Faith as she floated around the room. "This is fun!"
"Okay, Beatbox," said Cristian. "You can stop now."
As soon at Beatbox stopped beatboxing, everyone landed on the ground. When Nadine accidentally landed on DJ Jalen, they looked at each other and blushed. "You must be Nadine Lyndon," he said. "Jalen Jerome."
After they both helped each other out, Cristian decided that they should come up with a plan to find the real A.J. Zanell was already aware of Cristian being an agent and was busy making a better TV deal with Future Notes.
Faith looked at Beatbox and wondered if he had any Earth disguises. Cristian told them not to worry because Ollorrals could shapeshift. Beatbox got onto the ground and turned into a pug. "Now that's a convincing disguise," Howie commented.
As they were admiring Beatbox's Earth disguise, Jessie snuck out and powered up. Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico decided to go with her so she wouldn't get hurt. She didn't like it but didn't want to risk losing A.J. and regretting the argument about superhero fashion.
Using her senses, she tracked him down to the abandoned club.
XxoxX
Back at Club Supernova, the real A.J. was trying to escape by rubbing his tied hands by a radiator behind him. As he escaped, he saw the two nerds coming in with walking turntables.
"Listen here, Mr. Cool!" shouted Zelh-Phoy. "Our music is going to overshadow you dorks and we're going to be top of the charts!"
"Yeah," growled A.J., "to a penthouse prison cell."
"Is that right?" asked Zekk-Vegg.
Before they could attack, A.J. freed himself and tossed a bookcase towards them.
After he got out of the basement, he spotted Centauremerald. "Kid!" he shouted as he hugged her. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier today."
"And I'm sorry that I was angry," replied Centauremerald as she started to cry.
Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico all slide down and were amazed by the bond between the two.
On the ground, a fog bomb came to their feet and it exploded. Fog was everywhere.
"Rico!" shouted Skipper. "The fans!"
Rico jumped up and activated the fans.
After the fog cleared, she could see two A.J.s. And with the tattoo change, this was hard for Centauremerald. Zehl-Phoy and Zekk-Vegg explained that they fixed the tattoos on A.J.'s arms as soon as he returned.
"So which one of you is the real A.J?" asked Private.
"*I* am!" shouted both.
"Private," said Kowalski, "that is a rhetorical question."
Then Centauremerald remembered something. "Hey, A.J.s!" she shouted. "I was talking to Future Notes during dinner a new about you guys. During our talk, I asked if they had all your CDs."
"And?" they both asked.
Centauremerald turned her head with a snarky smile. "They don't," she replied.
"Yeah? So what?" the fake A.J. carelessly asked as the other A.J. started to feel offended.
With the look of the offended A.J., she knew he was the real deal while the other was an imposter. Centauremerald rushed up and double kicked the robot, causing him to break. After A.J. got up, he saw the penguins staring at him.
"Are you A.J. McLean?" asked Private.
"I am," answered A.J. "And you guys can talk."
"Our dear friend, Cristian Brand, is a government agency that keeps your super-secret from being blown," Skipper explained. "We've known for nearly three months now. He recently invited his nephew, Jalen, over to be the DJ for your little show."
"What type of remix did you use?" asked Centauremerald.
"Just Zenza's awful music," answered A.J. "You would not believe the awful tunes they had."
XxoxX
After they left the abandoned music store, they decided to find the others. Thinking hard, A.J. suggested that they should check Superland Boardwalk, a superhero-based theme park.
By the time they got there, they saw that the place was partially empty. Fortunately, the guard was asleep on duty. The penguins snuck threw the bars. After the press of the open button, they entered the park.
"Nice work, penguins," A.J. commented as they gave him high fives.
While they were looking around the park, Centauremerald wondered how he picked Superland as a meeting point for the others.
"I didn't," answered A.J. "I figured we could come here for LADUWS."
"And that's exactly my point!" Cristian shouted from behind. "The park manager gave us permission to film here once the place closed up."
Behind Cristian were Faith, Ginger, Nadine, Dorothy and the rest of the Backstreet Boys. A.J. rushed up and hugged his bandmants.
"Talk about a band-reunion," said a clowny voice, "here in the superhero union."
Zenza popped out of nowhere and behind her were a bunch of scary clowns. "I got word that the fanboys were down, making my wedding plans go into a frown. So thanks to a remote control under my gown, I summoned a lot of circus clowns."
Backstreet's Back Alright.
XxoxX
Ninja Man slashed an old test-strength meter and squished some of the clowns, Illusioner creates powerful illusions of the clowns, Ordnance shot down targets from the shooting gallery and tossed the toys at the clowns, Top Speed took some of the basketballs from the basketball games and slam dunked a few clowns, Power Lord lifted a cotton candy kart and got the clowns stuck, Griffin Girl and Merazul did a fire/water double fight, Rubyhane and Diamondnix did a speeding diamond fight, and Centauremerald double kicked the clowns.
Beatbox saw some clowns making their escape. He beatboxed as loud as he could and sent the floating clowns to the dunk tank.
Cristian, Jalen, and Zanell applauded for their bravery. "Nice job, gentlemen," replied Cristian. "And I'm going to use half of my check for the damage to the games. It's how the NSA works."
Just as Zenza was about to attack them again, bubbles came out of nowhere. Cristian, DJ Jalen, and the Penguins of Madagascar didn't remember bringing a bubble gun to their rescue missions. Behind them, they could see Vincenzo with the bubble machine that they packed for the show. Ginger was surprised because he somehow knew they were here.
Ginger was more surprised by the fact that Vincenzo had already been aware of their superhero secret. He explained to them that the time where he got kidnapped by the space basketball players, he noticed the same basketball technique as the Backstreet Boys and Nick's astonishing blue eyes. That was when he knew the Backstreet Boys were the Cyber Crusaders. Knowing the fact that they could get fired if any of his relatives found out, he decided to keep his mouth shut until he was ready. After A.J.'s kidnapping, he knew it was the right time to rescue a Backstreet Boy.
Jalen thought about erasing his memory, but Cristian told him that Vincenzo was worthy of knowing their secret. He had seen Vincenzo being loyal to his grandfather and being an understanding person towards the girls.
"Another thing about revealing your secret," Faith explained to the team. "I let it happen on accident. If they did it on purpose like in Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' they'd freak out."
"I remember having a skateboard of it from when I was young," recalled Howie D.
Without any else for them to do, they decided to enjoy Miami and the showcase. During the weekend, they did the assignments that they were given to. A.J., on the other hand, decided to get to know the penguins better while he gave them a tour of Miami.
XxoxX
When Sunday came, it was the LADUWS showcase at the Miami Aquarium.
First, they displayed the singles contestants dancing "Anywhere for You," then the showed the pairs dancing to "All I Have to Give" and the backup dancers dancing to "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)." Finally, the showcase ended with the Backstreet Boys performing "I Want It That Way." After Kevin's solo, Faith, Ginger, Nadine, Jessie, and Dorothy came onstage with the "I Want It That Way" costumes they gave the girls for Valentine's Day.
The audience burst with applause. Everyone was amazed by their performance, except for Lewis and his father. Just then, they got a call from Future Notes, saying that they quit due to his cruelty. Mr. Hightower was mad, so he decided to get some coffee. Behind him, Lewis glared at the Backstreet Boys and the Griff Gals and said, "I'll get you for this, Backstreet dorks."
XxoxX
On their way home, Zarina looked at all the films and they were exactly what LADUWS needed, except for Lewis because they only showed the places he went to when he filmed in Miami. Faith told Zarina that he'd be staying behind with his father to deal with a little traffic ticket troubles. Zarina smiled because everyone could use a break from Lewis.
After they got off the bus, Nadine asked Jalen if they could go out for ice cream later today. Jalen didn't have any other space missions, so he decided to go out with her.
In the studio, they saw Sunmona, Moonlena, and Starsanna talking to Alfonso, who developed a crush on them. Sunmona explained that Lewis Hightower has made fun of their astral clothes behind their backs. They knew this because Zeb and Hiram caught them on video insulting them. Instead of working for him, they decided to be in the pilot episode of "Let's All Dance Until We're Sick."
Zanell was thrilled, because she finally had an opening act for "Let's All Dance Until We're Sick."
The End.
Note: The following is a recap of the first half of The Backstreet Project. Zator's new theater bounty hunger Zaria and Zenza's older sister has stolen the identity of one of The Backstreet Boys, can you figure out who got Backstreet-napped before The Griff Gals, Zanell, Cristian, Jalen, and Vincenzo do?