The Sea Monkees

By: Larrysgirl and Mickys411 Rated PG

Peter got up early as the sun was rising, as he usually did every morning. Quietly, so as not to wake Davy his roommate, he washed, dressed and went out into the kitchen. After making a cup of tea, Peter walked out onto the back porch of the beach house he and the others lived in. From where he stood, Peter had a beautiful view of the ocean. He breathed in the fresh air and smiled. It looked like it would be another groovy day.
As the sky grew brighter however, Peter's happy mood suddenly vanished. A few miles out onto the ocean, Peter could make out several barges all converged in one place. Frowning, Peter remembered that today was the day the Gimme-more Oil Corporation was to start building an off-shore oil rig. According to geologists, there were huge deposits of oil not far off the shoreline; enough to greatly lesson America's growing dependency on foreign oil.
Naturally, the proposal to build the rig and drill for the oil had brought numerous complaints not only from ocean shore residents, but from environmentalists as well. Peter and the other three Monkees had signed petitions and gone to town meetings to stop the rig from being built, but still the oil company got its permit. Now, the rig would be an eye-sore on the beautiful ocean view.
Peter turned when he heard footsteps approaching. It was Mike. The tall Texan had a cup of coffee in his hand and yawned as he walked over to his friend. Mike noticed Peter's unhappy face.
"Why the long face, Peter?" Mike asked.
Peter didn't reply. He just pointed out over the ocean. Mike looked out and saw the barges in the ocean. He shook his head.
"Looks like they're gonna build that thing whether we like it or not." Mike said sadly.
"It's going to hurt the ocean, Mike. I know it." Peter replied.
"Oil rigs on land do plenty of damage." Mike agreed, "I can just imagine what will happen to the ocean."
The two Monkees watched for a while, and then went inside for breakfast. Later on, Davy and then Micky woke up and joined Mike and Peter at the breakfast table. Davy and Micky weren't too happy either about the oil rig being built a few miles from their home, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

A few months went by, and the Monkees watched as the oil rig took shape. The rig sat on huge pylons that were anchored to the ocean floor by huge chains. That way the rig could be moved to another spot and drill for more oil. The work was being completed on time, but there had been some puzzling problems developing: tools would go missing, wires and ropes cut and most disturbing of all, workers seeing weird fish faces. Still, the day came when work was finally finished. It made big headlines in all the papers, including the one Mike was reading one morning.
"Oil rig work complete:" Mike read to the others, "Gala party to be held next week."
"Drilling to commence in two weeks." Micky finished, looking over Mike's shoulder. He noticed the picture under the headline. "Who's that?"
"That's the Gimme-More's President, Joe Moore and his wife Kestra. The girls with him are their two daughters Mary and Amanda."
"Lovely birds." Davy said with a smile as he too peeked over Mike's shoulder.
Mike cleared his throat and looked up at Micky and Davy. They got the hint and moved away. Peter came in from the mailbox. He had a letter in his hand.
"Whatcha got there, Pete?' Davy asked.
"It's from the Gimme-More company." Peter said, as he opened the letter. "It's addressed to all of us."
"What does it say?" Mike asked.
"Dear Monkees," Peter read, "We of the Gimme-More Oil Corporation would like to extend an invitation to perform as one of the groups during our gala festival next week."
"Do a gig....for them?" Mike asked incredulously.
"Yeah, look!" Peter said, handing it to Mike.
Mike read the letter. It stated that they would be just one of several groups who would play different types of music to perform at the gala to please all ages of guests.
"Kind of ironic, don't you think?" Micky asked. "We've been fighting to keep that rig from being built and now they want us to play at its opening gala!"
Mike wasn't too keen on playing there either; it meant going out onto the water and he got seasick very easily. Still, the money they were offering was pretty good for one night's work.....
"Well, fellas," Mike asked, "Do we accept or not?"

The four Monkees sat at the kitchen table whether or not to play at this party.
Sure the guys were against this oil company putting up this building; however it's been sometime since they had a gig.
"So what do you guys think we should do?" Mike asked.
"I say we don't," said Peter.
"Man, this is one tough choice," said Micky.
"Should we or shouldn't we?" said Davy.
"That's what I said," said Mike.
"Wait a minute, couldn't we flip a coin to decide what to do?" asked Peter.
"It's worth a try," said Davy.
Micky took a coin out his pocket and said, "Ok, heads we go to the party, tails we don't."
He flipped the coin, and it landed heads.
"I guess that means we're going." said Mike.
Peter was not happy by this at all and remained quiet for the rest of the day.

Some time later, Mike called the number on the letter and told the receptionist on the other end that the Monkees agreed to play at the gala. She told them that a skiff would pick them up at the dock in one week and not to be late. Mike promised they would be on time, and hung up the phone. He walked back into the living room.
"Well, that's that." Mike said to Micky and Davy, "We'll be picked up and taken to the rig in a week." Mike looked around. "Hey, where's Peter? We should start rehearsing."
"He went for a walk on the beach." Davy replied. "He's not too happy about us playing a gig for the oil company."
"I'm not happy about it either." Mike said, shaking his head, "But we have to face facts. The rig is built and it’s not going to go away, and as usual we need the money."
"I think of it this way." Micky said smiling, "The oil company is paying good money to a bunch of guys who tried to keep them away. We're profiting from them."
Mike smiled and shook his head as he walked to the back door. "I'll go get Peter and we can start rehearsing."
Mike went out the back door, down the steps and onto the beach. It didn't take him long to find Peter skipping stones across the ocean.
"Hey, Pete." Mike said quietly.
"Hey, Mike." Peter answered, not looking at his friend. "You called the oil company?"
"Yeah, I told them we'd take the gig." Mike replied. "I know you're not happy about this Pete, none of us are, but..."
"But we need the money." Peter finished, finally looking at Mike.
Mike sighed. "Yeah, that's about it." He said.
Peter turned back to the ocean and looked over at the oil rig. He flung another stone across the ocean surface. It skipped several times then finally sank.
"You angry at me, Pete?" Mike asked.
"No, Mike." Peter replied, looking back at his friend. "Just at the circumstances. I know we need the money, but to take it from 'them'...." He pointed to the oil rig. "A big company that doesn't care about the ocean really bothers me."
"Can I have your cut, then?" Mike asked with a smile.
Peter saw the smile on Mike's face and couldn't help but smile too. "No, that's ok Mike."
"Let's go and rehearse, big Pete." Mike said.
Peter nodded his head and the two Monkees headed back to the pad.

One week later, the four Monkees, wearing their red shirt stage uniforms, waited on the pier for the boat. Mike nervously paced back and forth. He knew the Monkees needed this gig, but did not look forward to the short boat ride to the rig.
"Calm down, Mike." Davy said, "It's only a short distance to the rig." He sat down on the case holding Micky's bass drum.
"I sure hope so." Mike replied, looking at the slightly choppy water.
Just then, a small powerboat with the words ‘Gimme-More Oil’ painted on the side roared over to them. There was just the driver and he quickly pulled the boat next to the dock. He looked over at the guys.
"Are you boys the Monkees?" He asked.
"We are." Micky replied.
"Good. Here, tie this rope around one of the posts to help keep the boat steady." He tossed the rope to Micky.
Micky caught the rope and tied it around a post. With help from the driver, the Monkees quickly loaded up their gear onto the boat and climbed aboard. Davy untied the rope from the post and jumped on board last of all. The boat set out, but didn't head right for the rig as the Monkees had hoped.
"Where are we going?" Mike asked.
"We have another group to pick up." The driver replied, "Then we'll go to the rig. Why?"
"Well...well, I can't..." Mike stammered, already getting sick.
"He gets seasick very quickly." Peter said.
The man smiled and pulled out a bottle from his coat pocket. "Here, take one of these. It'll keep your stomach settled."
Mike thanked the man and took a pill. Not long afterwards, Mike did feel a little better. Finally, the boat picked up another group of jazz musicians and roared over to the rig. As they got closer, the man handed out a schedule of when each group was to perform. The Monkees saw they would play twice that night for a half hour each time. Other times would be filled in with musicians ranging from classical to R & B.
Everybody was looking at the schedule, so they didn't notice that they too were being watched as their boat pulled over to the rig. The Monkees and the jazz band climbed out of the boat and gathered their equipment. Peter happened to look down at the water and noticed a head bobbing in the water. Looking closer, Peter saw that the head was greenish and there seemed to be gills where the cheeks would be. Startled, he tapped Micky on the shoulder.
"Micky, look!" Peter said quickly.
"What Peter?" Micky asked.
"In the water! A head, but not like ours, a fish head!"
Micky looked, but saw nothing.
"I don't see anything, Pete." Micky said.
"It was there! I know it!" Peter insisted.
"Must've been your imagination." Micky replied and followed the others into the rig.
Peter continued to look for the head in the water until Mike called for him to hurry up. The bassist shook his head and followed his band mates into the rig.

The both bands were led from the small boat onto a bigger boat.
In fact, it was really a ship. The Monkees looked up and down the ship, checking out the handiwork on it.
"Golly, we can fit our living room on the thing." said Davy.
"Living room, we can fit the whole pad on here," said Mike.
"Maybe even the neighborhood," said Micky.
"It's maybe a nice boat, considering they got the money for it by being evil," said Peter.
"Shh, they might hear you Pete," said Mike.
The guys entered the ship's Ballroom, where the party was being held.
Since the jazz band was on first, the Monkees decided to kill time by mingling with the crowd, and even did some dancing.
Davy and Micky met up with the head of the company's daughters, however all the girls did was brag about money, their rich family and friends and the country club they belonged to.
After hearing all this for about 5 minutes, the two left the snobby sisters.
Peter was outside watching the sunset, he felt happy to see how beautiful the sky looked, however he was also sad due to someday, because of this company, the sky would be unbearable to see.
Just then, the head Peter saw poked out of the water, and then went back under.
Peter couldn't believe his eyes.
It was almost time for the guys to go on stage, so Mike went outside to find his band mate with his eyes opened wide.
"What's the matter Peter, you looked like you've seen a ghost," said Mike.
"Not a ghost, a fish," said Peter.
"What?"
At that moment Micky and Davy came outside. "What's going on, we have to get ready to go on stage," said Davy.
"I saw something that looked like a human, but also like a fish," said Peter.
"Come again?" asked Micky.
Just then, the sunset disappeared and the sky began to get cloudy.
"What's happening?" asked Davy.
The clouds got darker and soon, it started to rain. Suddenly, the door to the ballroom was slammed shut. The Monkees banged on the door to be let it, but no one answered.
"What are we going to do?" said Peter.
"Hey! Look over there!" Micky shouted, pointing to the side of the ship.
It was like the boat they came aboard on, but it was bigger looking and had oars on the sides of it.
"We could stay in there till the storm clears," said Davy.
"Quick hop in!" Mike called.
The four Monkees got in to the boat, which was surprisingly big enough to fit all of them and covered themselves with a blanket that was on top.
At that moment, something happened. A glass covering appeared over the boat, and the boat began to shake.
"What's going on?" asked Peter, who was getting a bit scared.
"Let's try not to panic and stay calm," said Mike.
Just then, the rope that was holding the boast began to break.
"I think it's time to start panicking," said Micky.
"Let's try to break out of here!" said Davy.
The Monkees tried to get out, but the glass was too strong to lift. With that, the rope broke, and the boat landed in the water.
The waves of the storm began to slam the Monkees' boat against the rig's pylons. The Monkees held onto the seats to keep themselves from being throw around like dolls. Mike began to turn green from all the action. The other three weren't doing too good either.
"We gotta try to get this boat away from the rig before we smashed to bits!" Davy shouted over the storm.
The others nodded in agreement. Fortunately the glass top on the boat kept them from getting wet as they went over to the oars of the boat. As one, they began to row the boat away from the rig. It was hard work, but finally they managed to pull away from the rig and head back to shore.

Meanwhile, back in the rig's ballroom, it was pandemonium as well. The lights had all gone out and there was the sound of tables and chairs being smashed and knocked over. People screamed and tried to get away, but the ballroom doors had been locked. Mary and Amanda Moore ran over to their parents.
"Mom, Dad, what's happening?" Mary asked, frightened.
"I don't know, sweetheart." Joe answered, and then called out, "Let's get some lights on in here!"
"We can't get out to check the fuse box, Mr. Moore!" One of his employees shouted to him.
Suddenly a single light came on at the bandstand near where the Moores were standing, illuminating a figure. But it wasn't the MC standing there, and the light was coming from a piece of coral the figure was holding in his hand. Several women screamed when they got a good look at the figure. It was nothing like they had ever seen!
The figure looked human, but that's where the similarities ended. It had light green skin and had webbed hands and feet, large fish-like eyes and gills where its cheeks would be. On its body was a green tunic that looked like seaweed, and it wore a necklace of shells. The figure's mouth was lipless but everyone could see its teeth as it opened its mouth to speak.
"Hear me, land-dwellers!" The figure said loudly in English, but slightly garbled as if speaking underwater, "You will leave our territory, you will leave the water alone!"
"Who are you to tell us what to do?!" Demanded Joe Moore.
The figure looked down at Moore. "You will not pollute our water! Move this ship away from here and leave us alone!" It thundered. Other lights came on and revealed more fish-like creatures standing around the ballroom doors.
"Why don't you take off that mask, you hippie, and discuss this like a man?" Moore smirked. Others around him laughed and the remark. Like Moore, they thought it was some environmentalists trying to scare them into leaving.
The fish-man ignored the question and pointed to Mary and Amanda. "We will take your offspring until you agree to leave." He said.
Moore's eyes narrowed. Nobody threatened his daughters. "I don't think so, fishy."
"Seize the females!" The fish-man on the bandstand shouted to his gang. Several fish-men started over to the Moores.
"Joe, do something!" Kestra shouted at her husband.
Joe grabbed his daughters' hands and began to pull them towards a side wall. Kestra, along with several others began to follow. Some of the men tried to block the fish-men, but the creatures were very strong and had little trouble pushing anybody who got in their way aside. Mary and Amanda clung to their mother.
"Don't let them take us Mom!" Amanda cried.
"Nobody is taking you anywhere, girls." Joe said as he went to the wall. He pressed a large red button and immediately foam came pouring down from the ceiling, not only in the ballroom, but all over the rig. It was a special type of fire suppression, since water would do no good on an oil fire. The fish-men were taken aback by this foam; it made it hard for them to breath. Still, several of them made a grab for the girls.
"Keep away, creature!" Mary shouted and slapped a fishman on the face.
Others in the ballroom took courage from that and began to hit the fish-men with whatever they could find. Finally, the men were able to break down a door and people began to run out of the ballroom.
"Mary, Amanda, RUN!" Their father shouted as he punched a fish-man in the face. The fish-man barely moved. Moore had to duck to avoid a right and pushed his wife and daughters out of the ballroom. Everybody began to run in every direction, and it wasn't long before the Moore sisters became separated from their parents.
"MOM! DAD!" They shouted, but all that did was bring unwanted attention from the fish-men. The two girls soon found themselves against the railing of the rig with the fish-men closing in.
"You remember those swimming lessons we learned at the country club last year?" Mary asked Amanda.
"Yeah, why?" Amanda replied.
"We'll have to swim for it."
"But this my new dress!" Amanda shouted.
"It's the wrong color for you anyway." Mary replied, "Now jump!"
Holding hands, Mary and Amanda jumped off the rail just as the fish-men were about to grab them. They landed feet-first in the swirling, storm-tossed waters below.

As the Monkees moved further away from the rig, the storm seemed to lessen and they could see a little out of the boat's glass top.
Suddenly, Micky saw something floating a little ways away from them. It looked like two people holding onto some debris.
"There's people out there!" Micky shouted. "Let's get them!"
The Monkees put their backs into it and soon came up to the two people just barely hanging onto the debris. Using what little strength they had left, the Monkees managed to finally open the glass top and pull the two people inside the boat. Davy and Micky recognized the two as the Moore sisters.
"Mary, Amanda, are you two ok?" Davy asked.
"Does it look like it?" Amanda snapped.
Mary smacked her sister's shoulder. "They just saved our lives, Amanda."
Amanda looked down. "You're right, sis." She looked Davy. "I'm sorry, and thank you four for saving us."
"Same for me, too." Mary added.
"It's alright, girls." Davy said and handed them the blanket that was in the back of the boat.
"Can you tell us what's going on?" Micky asked.
Mary and Amanda looked at each other, then finally told the guys what had happened. The Monkees looked at each other in disbelief.
"It's gotta be some kind of prank." Mike said.
"I don't know." Mary said, "But they looked real enough."
"Look at this boat." Peter told everyone. "It sure is a funky design."
"I wonder what the fish-man meant by 'our territory'. Davy wondered.
"Can we worry about that on dry land?" Mike asked, looking sick. "The storm has almost stopped."
The others agreed and all six of them rowed until the reached the beach not far from the Monkees' pad.

Meanwhile back at the rig, the fish-men, seeing that the girls had jumped into the water, made their way back to their boat. It would now be an easy matter for them to pick them up and take them back to their city. However, when they got back to their boat, they found it missing. The leader looked at the frayed rope that had held their boat to the side of the rig. He bared his teeth. This whole operation had failed.
Behind them, the fish-men heard shouting and they turned around.
"There they are!" Joe Moore yelled. Behind him were several men holding axes and anything heavy that could be used as clubs. They began to storm after the fish-men.
"To the water!" The leader said.
With that, all of the fish-men dove into the water and stayed under until they were underneath the rig. They then came up and looked for their boat. It didn't take long for them to spot the four long-haired land-dwellers who had spotted them earlier rowing away with their boat. To their further dismay, they saw the four land-dwellers picking up the two offspring they had been pursuing! Speaking in their own language, the leader said something to the others, and they dove back down where they came from; but they would remember the four land-dwellers who had spoiled their plans.

Back at the pad, the Monkees and the Moore girls dried off. Mary used their phone to call the rig and told their relieved parents they were ok. Their dad promised to send a car for them. Mary hung up and walked back into the living room.
"We want to thank you guys again for saving us." Mary said, "I'm sure our Dad will reward you."
"He can reward us by shutting down the rig." Peter blurted out.
"Peter!" The others said in dismay.
"It's ok, guys." Mary said with a sigh. "We've heard it before."
"Yeah, by people who don't like progress." Amanda snapped.
"What if there's a spill?" Peter asked, holding his temper. "Do you know what it could do to the wildlife for miles around?"
"My dad's rig is very safe!" Amanda retorted, "It has the latest safety features to prevent spills!"
"It's not just us." Mike said, now looking a lot better. "What about those...creatures...who tried to grab you girls?"
Neither Mary or Amanda had an answer to that. A little later, a car came and picked up the Moore sisters. They thanked the Monkees again and left. Micky looked at Peter.
"Well, this has been a fun night. First, no gig, and now, thanks to you Peter, probably no reward money!"
"Skip it, Mick." Davy said, "Let's go to bed."
The four Monkees went into their bedrooms and were soon asleep.

The next morning's papers were full of the accounts of what happened at the oil rig the night before. Most of the authorities agreed that it was probably environmental activists who had staged the whole act. Joe Moore went on record to announce that he wasn't daunted by what happened and the rig would soon start drilling. A few days after that, a nice check arrived for the Monkees and a note from Joe and Kestra Moore thanking them for saving their daughters.

Another two weeks went by and the oil rig began to drill under the ocean floor for oil. Life went on at the Monkees' pad until one morning, Peter woke up early as usual, made some tea and went outside onto the back porch. What he saw made him drop the cup, shattering it to pieces.
The beach was covered in oil!
"Hey guys, guys!" Peter yelled.
The others heard him and ran outside. It took an instant for them to see the oil all over their once-pristine beach. They couldn't believe it!
"Oh my...." Peter breathed.
"Our beach...." Micky gasped.
All along the shore, the oily water lapped up onto the sand. The Monkees changed clothes and walked down as far as they dared to the black stuff. They could see dead birds and fish lying around too.
Peter was beside himself. "I knew it! I knew it!" He yelled.
"Hey, look!" Davy shouted, "It's a person!"
It looked like someone had been caught up in the oil. The Monkees ran to the person and dragged it out of the slick. It was then that they noticed it, even under all the oil, that it wasn't a human.
"It looks like one of those fish-people Mary and Amanda described." Mike said.
"And this one looks like a woman." Davy added.
"She's not breathing too good." Micky said. He began to wipe the oil off of her gills with his sleeve. The others helped him.
After awhile, it seemed like she was breathing easier. She looked up at them with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
But as they were taking care of the Fish-lady, the Monkees didn't notice another boat similar to the one they had used to escape the rig come up on shore. Out of the boat came several fish-men and ran towards the Monkees.
Mike saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked to see the fish-men charging towards them led by a fish-man wearing a necklace of shells.
"It's THEM" Mike shouted in horror.
The others looked to see the fish-men coming at them.
"Let's split!" Micky yelled.
"But what about her?" Peter asked.
"They probably want her." Davy replied, "If we leave, maybe they'll let us go."
With that, the Monkees got up and ran away. The fish-men didn't follow. But that was because more fish-men had landed further down and were coming at the Monkees from the other direction!
The Monkees screamed to see the fish-men charging them. They changed directions to see the first set of fish-men now blocking their path. Before they could figure out a new way to run, the fish-men threw a net over them, knocking the Monkees to the ground. The guys tried to get away, but the net was too tight around them. Without a word, the fish-men dragged the Monkees to one of their boats and put them inside, while the other fish-men picked up their woman and went inside the other boat. Both boats then rowed out to sea and after securing the glass tops, they dove under the waves.

The boats dove into the waves and swam down into the deeps.
The Monkees dared not asked what was going on or what did the creatures want with them. The boats turned and headed for a dark object up ahead.
As they got closer, the object turned out to be a castle. This was not like the castles the Monkees saw when they went to visit Davy's grandfather in England.
This castle was made out of glass and greenish-blue colored coral.
"I'm scared," Peter whispered to the others.
"Me too," said Davy.
With all the worrying about what was going on, Mike forgot about his seasickness, and began to talk to one of the drivers.
"Excuse me sir, where are you taking us?" He asked.
The driver turned to him and answered in a surprising friendly tone of voice, "Why to Atlantis to see the King."
"The King?"
"Yes, the King of our home land."
"What does the King want with us?" asked Micky, who sounded just as nervous as the other guys.
"You'll see," the driver answered back.
The Monkees kept quiet the rest of the trip to Atlantis.
They weren't looking forward to going there, nor meeting the King.

As the boat/subs made their way closer to Atlantis, the Monkees could see other smaller buildings around the castle. These buildings were also made of the same glass and coral material. Despite their fear, the Monkees had to admit it was a beautiful sight. Even though they were several leagues under the sea, they could still see Atlantis because of the luminous coral that surrounded the city.
After awhile, the two boat/subs went to the bottom of the castle where there was a rock wall. The driver of the Monkees' boat/sub flashed a light at the wall and it slowly began to open. After a few seconds, the two vehicles were slowly moving through a tunnel underneath the castle. Not long afterwards, the two boat/subs surfaced and the glass tops were opened by the Atlantians.
The net was pulled off the Monkees and they were taken out of the boat and put onto the dock. The other boat opened up as well and the lady Atlantian was put on a stretcher and taken away. Mike turned to one of the guards.
"Will she be ok?" He asked.
"Since when do you land-dwellers care about anything except themselves?" The guard sneered.
"We found her on the beach, we were trying to help..." Peter tried to explain.
"Silence!" Thundered another Atlantian as he walked over to them. This one wore a seaweed tunic like the others, but had an elaborate necklace of shells around his neck. It was the same one who had led the attack on the rig a few weeks before, and led the landing party that captured them. "You four have caused enough trouble."
"Us?!" Micky exclaimed, "What did we do?"
A guard poked Micky in the back with a coral spear. "Prince Poseidon demanded silence, land-dweller." The guard growled.
Micky and the others kept silent. The prince turned to the captain of the guard. "My father will want to see them right away. Take them to the throne room, and make sure they are secure; who knows what trickery they may try."
"Yes my Prince." The captain said, bowing.
The prince walked away as the captain said something to the other Atlantians in their own language. The Monkees were seized and their hands tied behind their backs with lengths of seaweed. Only then were they led away and up into the rest of the castle.
The Monkees were taken upstairs in a glass elevator which gave them a great view of Atlantis. The buildings were connected with glass and coral tunnels which allowed the citizens to move about the city without having to go outside. But the four musicians couldn't appreciate the beauty since they were worried about their meeting with the king. It seemed the Atlantians were angry at them about something and they couldn't help but think of what would be done to them. The few Atlantians they encountered looked at them warily, then moved away.
Finally, they were taken down a hallway and in front of a pair of large doors made of gold-colored coral. This, the Monkees figured, was the king's throne room. The captain went inside and a few seconds later came out and motioned for the others to bring the Monkees inside.
The large doors were opened by servants and the Monkees were marched through the doors and into the throne room. It was a large room with glass walls in which the whole city could be seen. At the far end of the room at the top of several coral steps, sat an Atlantian on a throne made of coral, gold and precious stones. He wore a multi-colored seaweed tunic and a crown of gold coral on his head. The Monkees had no doubt this was the king of Atlantis. A few steps below him stood Prince Poseidon. He glared at the Monkees as they approached the foot of the steps.
"On your knees before King Neptune, ruler of Atlantis, land-dwellers!" Poseidon demanded.
The Monkees were pushed to their knees and their guards did the same. King Neptune looked at his captives for a few seconds, then gestured with his webbed hand.
"You may all rise." He said in slightly garbled English.
Everybody did what they were told. The king began to speak.
"I have been told by my son what you four have done." He said. "You prevented him and his men from seizing the offspring of the land-dweller who threatens my kingdom by stealing his boat, and then assaulted my daughter Princess Aqua."
The Monkees looked at each other. Obviously King Neptune was referring to when they saved Mary and Amanda from the ocean and then rescued the fish-lady from the oily beach.
"Your Majesty." Davy said slowly, "We only meant to take refuge in the boat from the storm that had come up. The rope then broke and we found ourselves floating on the ocean. We rescued the two women so they wouldn't drown, not to stop your plans."
"But you four work for this land-dweller, do you not?" The king asked with a smile. "My spies saw you four entering his large boat."
"Only for one night to play music for him, your Majesty." Mike replied truthfully.
"If we had taken his offspring, the land dweller would have been forced to leave our territory. Now your employer released this 'oil' and polluted our water in revenge, right?" King Neptune asked, ignoring Mike's comment.
"We don't know why the oil was released, your Majesty." Micky said, "We don't like it either. It made our beach ugly."
"But it was released, and our fish died and my daughter was caught in it." The King said with anger. "What were you going to do with my daughter?" He demanded.
"We were trying to help her!" Peter exclaimed. "Not hurt her! She couldn't breath, so we were trying to get the oil off her gills."
"Liar!" Prince Poseidon shouted. "All you land-dwellers do is hurt and destroy, and do anything to help yourselves with no thought to anything below the water!"
"That's not true!" Peter shot back, "Some people may not care, but others like us care about the Earth!"
"Really?" King Neptune said with what sounded like amusement. He stood up and walked down the steps and over to one of the glass walls of his throne room. The Prince, the Monkees and their guards followed him. The King pointed to an area just outside the city boundary.
"Look at how much you land-dwellers care!" He said.
The Monkees could see a mountain of garbage piled high not far from the city. Old tires, car parts and countless other objects made up the pile.
"Everyday, citizens must go pick up the garbage and place it there, so they can cultivate the seabed." The king said angrily, "Every so often a large piece of trash smashes through the glass buildings, resulting in injuries. Even my own throne room has been hit by objects thrown from boats by you land-dwellers."
The Monkees were stunned to see so much trash on the ocean floor. They could understand why the King was so mad.
"We had no idea your Majesty." Micky said sincerely, "But you cant blame us for what other people do."
The King turned to Micky. "That is true, but I can make an example of you four of what we will do to those who continue to pollute our water."
"What do you mean?" Davy asked, getting scared.
The king didn't answer. He simply looked over at the captain of the guard. "Take them to the Aquarium." He ordered.
The guards dragged the Monkees away and down several flights of steps and into another chamber. This chamber was round and made of stone and coral. The floor was hollowed out except for an area in the middle where there was a large stone with an iron ring imbedded on top. The Monkees were taken to this stone and their wrists chained to the ring. Then the guards walked away and closed the door.
"What's gonna happen, Mike?" Peter whimpered.
"I don't know Peter. It doesn't look good." Mike answered as he tried to pull his hands free.
The king, the prince and the guards entered a balcony above them. The king looked down at them.
"You will pay for hurting my daughter and when your employer sees your bodies lying on his big boat, torn to pieces, perhaps he will fear us and leave us alone." He said.
"Please!" Davy shouted, "We didn't do anything wrong!"
The King ignored Davy and pulled a switch. Immediately water began to come up through a hole in the floor and with it, several small fish with very sharp teeth. The water began to rise towards the Monkees and they backed away from the water. But it was surrounding them on all sides, and it was only a matter of time before they either drowned or were eaten alive! The four men climbed on top of the rock to stay out of the water, but it continued its climb towards them. They hugged each other in fear and to comfort each other in what they thought were their final moments.....
"STOP!" A voice shouted from the balcony. Everybody turned to see the Atlantian lady the Monkees had rescued run over to the King.
"Please, father!" The lady begged, "These land-dwellers did not hurt me! They saved me from suffocating!"
"Are you sure of this, Aqua?" The King demanded.
"Yes!" She answered, "They pulled me from the oil and cleaned off my gills so I could breath! Please spare them!"
The King looked at the Monkees. The water was at their feet. He reached over and pulled the switch in the other direction. The water stopped coming into the chamber.
"But father, "Poseidon said, "They still stopped me and my men from..."
"This is only a short reprieve, my son." The king replied, "I will speak more with you on what happened, daughter, and then their fate will be decided." The king looked down again at the Monkees. "My daughter has spoken up for you, land-dwellers." He said. "I will decide what to do to you later." He pushed a button and the water and the fish quickly drained out of the chamber. The Monkees sagged with relief.
The guards came in and unchained them. The Monkees were happy to be alive, but it was only a reprieve and they knew it.
Neptune turned to his guards and ordered, "Take these men to the dungeon! Keep them there till the trial!"
"Trial?!" The Monkees shouted all together.
"Yes, I will hear both Poseidon and Aqua’s sides of this story, and we'll determine what to do with you."
The guards led The Monkees back on the elevator, pressed a button to go down, and soon they were in the deepest, darkest, and coldest part of the castle.
"Come on now!" One guard demanded, pushing the Monkees out of the elevator.
The guys were lead down the hall of the dungeon, and soon they reached an empty cell.
One guard took a key, opened the cell, and pushed the Monkees inside.
As soon as the guys got in, the guard slammed the door shut, and locked it up.
"I hope you're comfortable, you might be here for sometime now." said the guard.
Then he and the other guards left, leaving the Monkees locked up in their cell.
At that moment, Peter began to sniffle.
"Don't cry Pete, I'm sure everything's going to be ok," said Mike.
"I'm not sniffling because I'm crying, I'm cold," said Peter, with a shiver.
He then sneezed a few times.
"You know, it is pretty cold down here," said Davy, wrapping his arms around himself to keep warm.
"I can actually see my breath." said Micky, blowing into his hands.
Just then, they heard a door opening.
"I bet it's Poseidon coming," said Peter, who sneezed again.
"Or the guards," said Mike.
But it wasn't either person or group, it was Aqua.
"Aqua! Are we glad to see you!" Davy said.
"I bought some things for you guys, I managed to get them while no one was paying attention," said Aqua, opening a basket.
She pulled out some blankets and a thermos.
"Groovy, thanks Aqua," said Micky.
The guys then wrapped the blankets around them, and try what was in the thermos, which was a really good tasting seaweed tea.
"This was very kind of you, thanks again," said Mike.
"I feel warmer already," said Peter.
"You know, you didn't have to do this," said Davy.
"Yeah, specially since we're the ‘land dwellers’," said Micky.
"I believe you guys were trying to save me,” said Aqua, “And you must forgive my Father and Brother, they're just trying to protect me. Many years ago, this place was much more beautiful than it is now. And since we had these oil drillers, many of our people got quite ill from the poisons. Some of them got well, sadly a few including my Mother weren't so lucky." A tear fell from Aqua’s eye.
"Don't worry Aqua, we're not one of ‘them’ , " said Davy.
"I believe you,” said Aqua, “By the way, don't worry about my Brother. He's always been a pain anyway.”
The Monkees had to laugh at what Aqua said.
"However, he will do anything to get his way. I better get going now, I'm not allowed to talk to the prisoners."
"Don't worry Aqua, we'll be ok," said Mike.
"Thank you for believing our story," said Micky.
"And thanks for the blankets," said Peter.
"You're very welcome, and please be safe," said Aqua, leaving the dungeon.
Despite being in the dark, cold, damp dungeon, the Monkees were glad, because not only did they have something to keep themselves warm, but they had one person on their side.

As the Monkees languished in their cell, several leagues above on the ocean surface Joe Moore was having an emergency meeting with his executives. He looked from the window of his office in the rig and back to his nervous executives.
"How could this have happened?!" He thundered. "After all I went through to make this rig a reality! All the assurances I made that this rig was 'ocean friendly'! All the money I spent! Why is seven miles of beach now covered in my oil?!"
"The best we could figure, Mr. Moore," a man said timidly, "is that a main valve became rusty with the salt air and water and stuck open. Before the men could close it, the oil leaked out."
Moore sat down in his chair. "A rusty valve is what's going to sink this company?" He asked angrily.
"The crew did manage to contain some of it with plastic pylons, sir." Another exec told his boss. "We've already sent out crews to start scooping up the oily sand. It might take about a month or so to finish the job."
"A month." Moore repeated. "How long before we can drill again?"
"Not until we meet with the E.P.A, Mr. Moore." The first exec replied, "But they're coming here tomorrow."
"Has the valve been fixed?"
"Yes, sir." Another man replied. "We could start drilling again as soon as we get E.P.A. approval."
"Good." Moore said with a tight smile. "We have customers waiting for our oil, plus the fact we're going to be sued by all those people who live near the beach. We're going to need all the money we can get."
"At least nobody died or was injured." A fourth man said. "But the toll on wildlife in the area...."
"So what?" Moore snapped, "So a few fish died! You're not siding with those weirdoes in the fish masks a few weeks ago, are you?" He demanded.
"No sir," The exec said quickly, "But I have a beach-front home whose beach is now covered in oily dead fish and birds."
Moore glared at the man for a few seconds, then turned to his secretary who was sitting behind him taking down the minutes.
"Miss Cline, contact our lawyers and tell them to get ready for any legal action brought against us. Then tell our publicists to prepare a public apology for what happened." He turned back to his executives.
"Gentlemen, this is only a small set-back. We have all invested too much time and money to turn our backs on the largest oil deposit ever found underneath the Pacific Ocean." Moore smiled. "With determination and luck, we will be even more wealthy then we are now, and the U.S. will have all the oil it needs for years to come."

The next day, (or so the Monkees assumed since there wasn't a night and day so far below the sea), the guards came over to the Monkees' cell.
"Uh oh." Micky whispered to the others, "Now what?"
The cell door opened and the guards ordered them out of the cell. Quickly, the Monkees filed out and were taken to a more open area of the prison block. Once there, the head guard spoke to the four musicians.
"Princess Aqua has ordered that you be allowed to exercise, land-dwellers." He said with disgust. "Do not try to escape or you will suffer the consequences." He pointed to a whip made of coral and seaweed hanging on the wall.
"We'll behave, sir." Peter gulped.
The guards moved to the walls and watched as the Monkees stretched their cramped limbs. They were glad for the opportunity to leave their cell and for Aqua's kindness but were still frightened by what might happen to them at their trial.
A few minutes later, Prince Poseidon marched into the cell block. He didn't look happy at all.
"What is going on?!" He demanded.
"The princess ordered that the prisoners be allowed to exercise, my Prince.” A guard said respectfully.
"Bah! It seems my sister's brain has been poisoned by these land-dwellers!" Poseidon snarled. He turned to the Monkees. “I never thought any living creature could be so obstinate! What is going to take for your people to stop polluting our water?!" He raged.
"What...what do you mean?" Micky stammered.
"The big boat that spilled poison into our water is once again preparing to drill under the ocean floor!" Poseidon replied hotly.
"Drill again? After that big oil spill?" Davy asked in disbelief.
"Not only that, but the poison you call 'oil' is blocking out the sun and our shrimp farms are dying!"
Mike then had an idea. "Prince Poseidon, listen!" He said, "Let us go back to the surface and tell the people on the boat that your city is here and not to drill anymore!"
"Yeah, if they know you people live down here, they will stop!" Peter said hopefully.
Prince Poseidon and the guards all bust out laughing at that. Finally the prince stopped laughing and looked at the Monkees.
"You land-dwellers do not even care about the land you live on! We have your radios and televisions which show how you harm the land! Do you think they would care about what is under the water?"
"We'll tell them!" Davy insisted, "Not all land-dwellers are bad!"
"Bad or not, we are going to teach you land-dwellers once and for all to leave us alone!" Poseidon replied.
"How?" Mike asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The prince said slowly and with what the Monkees thought sounded like an evil tone of voice. "Right now, I'd just worry about yourselves. I think it's time my guards had some exercise now." Poseidon said something to the guards in their own language.
The guards rushed over to the Monkees, pulled off their shirts, and chained them face first against the wall with their hands above their heads.
"What are you going to do to us?" Micky said fearfully.
Micky's question was answered as one of the guards took the whip off the wall and walked over to the Monkees.
"Oh, no, please no!" Davy cried.
Cries of pain and the sound of the whip were heard for a long time until Poseidon grew tired of watching and left the cell block to carry out his plan against the land-dwellers.

Sometime later, which felt like forever for The Monkees, the whipping stopped.
The guard then pushed the four bruised Monkees backed into their cell.
"Let's hope that talked some reason to you land dwellers," said the guard, who then left the cell block. The Monkees sat in their cell, at least tried to sit, since they were in pain from what happened.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the castle, Aqua was arranging a kelp garden, when she was interrupted by Poseidon, laughing out loud.
"What's so funny?" she asked her brother.
"Those pathetic land dwellers, they're such fools," said Poseidon between laughs.
"What do you mean?"
He told her about what just happened.
Aqua couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Those poor boys," she said.
"I can't believe you feel sorry for those trouble makers!" said Poseidon.
"Those trouble makers saved my life!"
"Sure, like the way those other guys saved Mom!"
"That was different, I know these guys won't do anything terrible!"
"They're just tricking you, as soon as we release them, they'll just go back to their old ways!"
"You're a liar! A big liar!"
And with that, Aqua angrily stormed off.
Aqua went back to her chambers, gathered up a few things and went down to the dungeons to see the Monkees. She waited until the changing of the guard, then went to visit her friends. Opening the door, the Monkees looked up at her and Aqua could see the pain in their eyes. It hurt her to see them like that. She walked inside.
"Hi, Aqua." Peter said softly.
"Hello, my friends." Aqua said, fighting tears. "I'm so sorry my brother did this to you. He hates all land-dwellers and after our mother died...." She sighed. "But...but this is wrong."
Aqua handed them their shirts she had found, then opened up her basket and pulled out seaweed bandages and shell-powder antiseptic. Slowly, she dressed their wounds and the Monkees were amazed at how fast the ocean-based medicines took away the pain.
"That feels good, Aqua. Thank you." Mike said gratefully.
"The ocean around us provides all we need." Aqua said, "From the food we eat to the clothes we wear..."
"To the whips you use." Micky said bitterly.
"Micky..." Davy warned.
"It's ok, boys. I'm going to tell my father what Poseidon did to you four. I know he won't like it." Aqua said firmly. "When your trial comes I will speak in your defense."
Suddenly, everyone heard what sounded like distant thunder and a slight trembling went through the castle.
"What is that?" Mike asked.
"It's the drill starting up again." Aqua replied. "The noise scares away the fish and the drill creates huge clouds of dust."
"Help us escape, Aqua." Davy said, "I promise we'll do everything we can to stop the other land-dwellers from doing more damage to your city."
Aqua shook her head. "The exits are too closely guarded. The boats are constantly watched." She got to her feet. "I'm going to speak to my father. I won't let this abuse happen again."
"Thank you aqua." Peter said.
Aqua smiled and left the cell.

In one of the upper chambers of the castle. King Neptune and Prince Poseidon were studying a diagram laying on a table. It looked to be the plans of a giant machine.
"It seems that your storm-making machine works fine, son." Neptune said with pride.
"Yes it seems that was the only thing that went right that day we tried to kidnap the offspring of that land-dweller." Poseidon replied.
"Now with these improvements, you will be able to change the weather over a large area of land." Neptune remarked, looking at his son, "Or water."
"Yes, father, I intend to create a huge storm that will destroy that poison-producing boat and much of the coastline nearby!" Poseidon laughed.
Aqua entered the room to hear her brother speak that last sentence.
"Destroy the coastline?" She asked, dismayed.
"Yes, dear sister. If they get a taste of the sea's fury, the land-dwellers will never come near the water!" The prince replied.
"Father, please, let those land-dwellers go back and warn their kind about us!" Aqua begged. "I know not all of them are evil!"
"Still under their spell, Aqua?" Poseidon sneered.
"At least I treated them with civility, and not with torture!" She shot back. Aqua then told her father how her brother had mis-treated the Monkees. Neptune looked at his son.
"Poseidon, I have no love for the land-dwellers, but I will not tolerate cruelty. We Atlantians have always prided ourselves as being above that, being above what the land-dwellers do to their kind. Their trial will be soon and they will be dealt with then. Am I clear?"
"Yes, father." Poseidon growled, glaring at Aqua.
Aqua ignored her brother's glare. "Let me go up with them, Father," She pressed, if they see me, they'll know the boys are telling the truth!"
"What?!" Neptune roared. "The land-dwellers will take you captive like they do with their other creatures and put you in a cage!"
"But..."
"No, Aqua! I lost your mother to the land-dwellers, and I won't lose you as well!"
Aqua hung her head. Deep down, she knew her father was probably right. She looked up.
"But I also know from watching the land-dwellers that violence won't solve anything!"
"That's enough, Aqua." The king said sternly and turned to his son.
"I will let you go ahead and make the improvements on your storm-machine. When will you be done?"
"Very soon, Father." Poseidon said with pride.
Once again, the rumble of the drill could be heard and the castle shook a little. Aqua began to make her own plans to free the boys and save both sides from harm.

Up on the ocean's surface, Joe Moore and his engineers were also looking at a map laying on a table. But this was a map of the ocean floor.
"So where's the next bore-hole going to be?" Moore asked the man next to him.
"It will be several feet to the west of the drill we have going now, sir." The man replied.
Moore looked at the hills and valleys of the floor. He noticed a large bump that reminded him a castle. "Will it be right here?" He asked.
"Yessir." Another man replied. "Sonar can't seem to get a good read on it, but it seems there's a lot of oil where that big hill is on the ocean floor."
"Well, that's where we'll drill next."
Nobody knew that the 'big bump' was really the city of Atlantis.

The next day was a big day for the people of Atlantis and the Monkees, for it was the day of the trial. The castle courtroom was set like a regular courtroom, expect everything was greenish-blue and made of coral instead of wood.
Court was getting ready to begin, the jury were seated in the stands, The Monkees sat at the defense table, while Neptune, Poseidon and the guards were seated at another table.
At one of the spectator chairs was Aqua, she gave a quick wave to the Monkees, who waved back to her.
"Good luck," she whispered.
"Thank you," The Monkees whispered back to her.
At that moment, the judge enter the courtroom.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Thatias Hugo," said the Bailiff.
Everyone stood up, as the judge entered, when he sat down in his stand, everyone sat down again.
Judge Hugo adjusted his glasses, organized the papers at his stand, then began to talk.
"Court is now session.” said Judge Hugo banging his gavel and began to speak again, “The city of Atlantis verses The Monkees can now come to order. The court allows King Neptune to speak.”
"Thank you your honor,” said King Neptune, “I'd like to point out that on Aug. 18th Monday, these long haired land-dwellers were on the beach and were about to attack my daughter, Princess Aqua."
He pointed to The Monkees.
"That's not what happened!" Davy shouted.
"Silence!” Judge Hugo demanded, he returned to a regular sounding voice, “Now your highness, where did you get this piece of information?"
"From my son and the guards who are seated with me," the king said.
"Is this true young man?" the judge asked Poseidon.
"Yes your honor, honest and true," Poseidon answered.
"Please," muttered Mike under his breath.
"That makes two of us," Micky muttered back.
"I heard that," said the judge, "May we please continue?"
"Yes your honor, I want this trial to end with these trouble makers to get what's coming to them," said Poseidon, pointing to the Monkees.
Suddenly, the courtroom began to shake.
"What's going on?" asked Peter.
The trial then came to a halt.
After a few seconds, the shaking stopped and Prince Poseidon addressed the judge again. "Your honor, that shaking is from the drill from the land-dwellers boat above us! They want to destroy Atlantis! Let them be executed!" He demanded.
"Prince Poseidon, these land-dwellers are not on trial for that, they are on trial for assaulting your sister!" The judge replied.
The Monkees smirked at the Prince. Then once again, the whole courtroom began to shake even harder than before.
"But this will have to wait." The Judge said, frightened. "This court is adjourned until further notice! Everyone please get to safety!" He banged his gavel and quickly left the bench.
The spectators and jury quickly followed his lead. Soon, just the Monkees, Neptune, Poseidon, Aqua and the guards were left in the courtroom. Everyone stood up and Poseidon looked at his father.
"My storm-making machine is ready, father!" Poseidon said eagerly, "Let me unleash a storm the land-dwellers will never forget!"
"No, father!" Aqua said, running over to the King and Prince, "Let these land-dwellers go back to the surface to stop the drill!"
Suddenly another tremor shook the whole castle, almost knocking everyone off their feet.
"No, Aqua!" Neptune said sternly, "Poseidon is right. These land-dwellers will not listen to reason and must be dealt with!" He turned to the guards.
"Take them back to the Aquarium. They will be the first land-dwellers to feel the wrath of Atlantis."
The Monkees were dragged away, with Neptune, Poseidon and Aqua following behind. Aqua just barely held back her tears. The party went over to an elevator to go down to the Aquarium. As the elevator doors opened, Aqua put her hasty plan into action.
Quicker than anybody thought possible, Aqua shoved the guards closest to the Monkees aside and pushed the Monkees into the elevator. When the guards tried to follow, she pulled off her cape and threw it on their heads. By the time they pulled the cape off themselves, Aqua had pushed the down button which closed the elevator doors.
As the elevator began to descend, the Monkees looked in shock at Aqua. They couldn't believe she'd risk everything to help them!
"What are you doing Aqua?" Mike asked.
"We're going up to the surface, that's what." She replied with a smile. "I had one of my maids put sleeping powder in the boat guards' seaweed tea. Hopefully it has taken effect by now and we can escape."
"You're risking so much to help us. Thank you." Davy said sincerely. He was about to lean over and give her a kiss when the elevator car came to an abrupt halt.
"Now what?" Micky asked.
Aqua punched several buttons but the car didn't budge.
"Maybe those tremors did something to the elevator." Peter guessed.
"No, it's not that...." Aqua trailed off sadly.
Suddenly the car started down again, came to a stop at one of the floors and the doors opened. The Monkees and Aqua found themselves facing Neptune, Poseidon and several angry armed guards. The guards grabbed the Monkees and Aqua and pulled them out of the elevator. They were right outside the aquarium. Neptune glared at his daughter.
"Aqua, have you lost your senses!?" He shouted at her.
"She must have, father," Poseidon answered, "Otherwise she would've remembered this elevator can be controlled by an outside switch for just such occasions."
"I did what I had to do to try and save Atlantis, father!" Aqua exclaimed.
"Even at the risk of imprisonment and death at the hands of the land-dwellers?" Neptune asked, amazed.
"Yes." Aqua said firmly. "We'll all die anyway if something isn't done. I'd rather die trying to help this city."
Neptune and Poseidon looked at Aqua with new-found respect for the Princess. In the silence, one of the guards looked at the King.
"Your orders, Sire?" He asked as another guard opened the door to the aquarium.
"Let the princess and the land-dwellers go back to the surface." He said slowly.
"But father..." Poseidon said.
"But one of the land-dwellers must stay in the aquarium." Neptune finished.
"What about my storm-making machine?" Poseidon demanded.
"You may get it ready." Neptune said and looked at the Monkees, "And if you land-dwellers do not return with my daughter in two-hours time, the one who is left behind will die; and my son will unleash a storm on your land the likes of which have not been seen before."
Poseidon gave the Monkees an evil smile. "Now which of you land-dwellers will stay?"
"I'll stay." Mike said quickly, "The less I'm in boats the better."
"No, Mike, I'll stay here." Micky said.
"It's gonna be me." Davy said firmly.
Quickly it became an argument over who would stay until everyone heard the sound of chains locking shut. Micky, Mike and Davy turned around and looked through the aquarium door to see Peter calmly chaining himself to the rock in the middle of the floor. While the other three had argued, he had walked inside, took a set of chains from the guard and chained his own wrists to the ring in the rock.
"PETER!" The three Monkees yelled as a guard checked to make sure Peter really had chained himself up. Satisfied Peter was secure, the guard left the room.
"I'm the environmentalist of the group." Peter said with a tinge of fear in his voice. "I fought the most to keep the rig from ever being built, so now I'll risk myself to stop it."
"Oh Peter..." Davy whispered.
Just then the biggest tremor yet hit the castle.
"We'll be back for you Peter." Mike said, his voice breaking.
"I know you guys will." Peter replied with a small smile, "Just come back in time."
The guards, at a signal from the King, closed and locked the door. Neptune went upstairs and pulled the switch down slightly so the water would come in slowly. Poseidon gave his sister a hug.
"Be careful, Aqua." He said.
"I will." She promised.
With that, the three Monkees and Aqua were escorted to one of the boat/subs to journey back to the surface.

As Micky, Mike, Davy and Aqua traveled to the surface, Joe Moore was in the control room of his rig watching the progress of the drill. He glanced out the window and saw a speedboat racing toward the rig. Moore groaned inwardly as he recognized it as his personal boat and that his wife and daughters were on board. He loved his family very much, but right now he didn't need the distraction. Still he turned to one of the men standing near the door.
"Dan, my family is coming over. Show them up here, will you?"
"Yes, Mr. Moore." Dan said then left the room.
A few minutes later Kestra, Mary and Amanda walked into the control room, followed by Dan, who went back to his station. Moore could see his family was not happy.
"Hello, sweethearts." Moore said, kissing them, "What's the matter?"
"If you had been home these last few days you would know!" Kestra snapped. "I was supposed to host a luncheon on the beach for the ladies of our country club when all that filthy oil came and made a mess of it!"
"And we had organized a beach party for our sorority and that had to be cancelled!" Mary said angrily.
"It was going to be the party of the year, too." Amanda complained. "After all the bragging we did about it. How humiliating!"
"It was an accident!" Moore told his family. "I'm sorry your social events were cancelled, but things have been fixed and the oil is being cleaned up. It won't happen again. We're about to hit the largest deposit of oil ever discovered off the California coast."
None of Joe Moore's family looked impressed.

Aqua drove the boat/sub back to the surface as fast as she could. Many lives, human and Atlantian depended on the next few hours. Micky, Mike and Davy sat in the back, glad for the chance to try and stop the drill, but also frightened for Peter.
"We'll be at the surface in a few minutes, boys." Aqua said. "I hope your plan works."
"So do we, Aqua, so do we." Mike replied.
A few minutes later, the boat/sub bobbed up to the surface. They were only a short distance from the rig. The three Monkees opened up the glass top while Micky took over and steered the boat over to one of the rig's docks. The guys were glad to see the sun again. Micky looked at his watch and hoped they had enough time. When their boat/sub bumped against one of the docks, a man in gray coveralls called down to them.
"What do you want?" This is private property!" He demanded.
"Please let us come up!" Davy called back, "We found this lady in the water and she needs help!" He pointed to Mike who had someone wrapped up in a blanket in his arms.
"Ok, hold on!" The man answered. He lowered down a winch which picked up the boat and placed it level with the deck. The three Monkees climbed out of the boat with Mike carrying the 'woman'.
"Thank you sir." Micky said.
Just then, Joe Moore and his family came over. He was getting angry at all the interruptions. "What's going on here?!" He demanded.
"These men said they found this woman in the water and brought her here, Mr. Moore." The man replied.
"And you believed them?" Moore asked angrily. "How do we know they're not those environmental nuts?"
"Wait, Dad." Mary said quickly, "These guys are the Monkees! They saved Amanda and me, remember?"
Moore's face turned red. "I'm sorry boys, I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"That's ok, Mr. Moore." Mike said, "We really came here because there's someone you need to meet." With that, he stood the figure he was holding onto its feet and unwrapped the blanket. "We'd like to introduce to you Her Royal Highness Princess Aqua of Atlantis."
Mike pulled the blanket away from Aqua's face and the Moores and the worker gasped and took a step back in fright.
"Still trying that same trick, eh?" Moore growled.
"Please listen to me." Aqua begged. "I come in peace, alone and unarmed."
"Your pals tried to kidnap my daughters!" Mrs. Moore shouted.
"I am truly sorry for that." Aqua said sincerely, "We were going to hold your daughters prisoners until you promised to leave the area. But now it is too late for that. Your drill is about to destroy my city!"
"Your people live underwater?" Mary said in disbelief.
"Yes, Mary." Davy replied, "We were taken prisoner and brought to their city. It's made of coral and glass. The drill is already causing tremors and doing damage."
"You expect us to believe such a story?" Amanda retorted and walked over to Aqua. "And that makeup job is so bad...." She reached over to wipe Aqua's 'makeup' off her face and was shocked to see the 'makeup' didn't come off! Amanda slowly pulled her hand away. "Dad...she's not wearing makeup. Or a mask. That's her real face!" Amanda said slowly, fear creeping into her voice.
"Go ahead. Touch me." Aqua said, "You'll see I'm for real." She held up her webbed hands.
Moore walked over and touched Aqua's face, felt her gills and looked at her hands. He backed away. "This...can't be." He sputtered.
"It's true, Mr. Moore." Micky said. "There are thousands of people like Aqua who will die if your drill penetrates the city."
Davy looked over at the horizon and noticed with dismay that dark storm clouds were beginning to gather.
"We don't have much time, Mr. Moore." He said, "Our friend Peter is still a prisoner down below. We have to return with Aqua and the drilling must stop."
"NO!" Moore shouted, "I believe Aqua is not human, but I refuse to believe in some underwater city made of glass!"
"Same here." Mary replied while her mother and sister nodded their heads.
Aqua and the three Monkees looked at each other. The princess looked again at Moore. "I have proof of the existence of my city. It is in the boat. Come, I'll show you."
Aqua and the Monkees led the way back to the boat. She climbed in while the Monkees gathered around the Moores. Mike nodded his head and without warning Aqua pulled Moore into the boat while Davy and Micky picked up Mary and Amanda while Mike picked up Mrs. Moore. They jumped into the boat with the women.
"Put us down, let us go!" The Moore sister demanded.
"Help!" Mrs. Moore screamed.
"Hang on, everybody!" Mike yelled as he released the winch holding the boat.
The worker who had been with the Moores ran over, but the boat came loose before he could get there. The boat splashed down into the water. Aqua pushed the buttons to close the glass top and put the boat/sub into a dive.
"How dare you do this! I demand you return us to the rig!" Moore said furiously.
"Sorry, Mr. Moore." Davy said. "But we're on an express trip to Atlantis!"
"You'll be sorry you did this!" Mrs. Moore exclaimed.
"We'll gladly go to jail if we can save our friend and convince you of Atlantis' existence." Mike replied. "So just enjoy the ride."
The Moores glared at Mike but said nothing else. The Monkees and Aqua hoped they got back in time to save Peter and stop Poseidon from using his storm-making machine.

Back down in Atlantis, Peter sat on the rock in the middle of the Aquarium and watched as the water filled with the hungry fish came closer to him. Neptune and Poseidon looked down at him from the balcony.
"Your time is almost up, land-dweller." Poseidon sneered.
"They'll be here soon." Peter called back, his voice shaking.
"Is your storm machine ready, Poseidon?" Neptune asked.
"Yes, father. It is charging up now. I'm going to open it up to the sea." Poseidon left the balcony and up a flight of steps to his laboratory. In here was the machinery that would fuel the largest, most damaging storm the land-dwellers would ever know. He pushed a button and threw a switch. Slowly, just a short distance outside the city, a large pair of doors opened on the sea floor and what looked like a large fan and other machinery came up from below. Poseidon smiled and pushed another button and the fan ever so slowly began to turn. It wouldn't be long now.

The boat/sub carrying Aqua, the Monkees and the Moores went deeper and deeper underneath the rig. Despite the lights on the craft, it was still very dark all around them. Micky suddenly turned to the Moores and gave them a big smile.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" He said in a circus ringmaster voice, "If would look to your right you will now see the famous city of Atlantis!"
The Moores looked over and sure enough, out of the blackness, came the bright lights of Atlantis. Joe Moore's jaw fell open as did the jaws of his wife and daughters.
"It...its beautiful." Amanda whispered in amazement.
"And its also my home." Aqua replied.
Though they were in a hurry, Aqua slowed the boat/sub down to show the Moores her beleaguered city. They saw the castle and all the buildings around it, the shrimp farms and kelp beds....and the garbage dump outside the city walls.
As they drew closer to the city they could hear the rumbling of the drill as it came ever closer to the city. Looking up, everyone could just barely see the tip of the drill as it made its way down towards the city.
"I had no idea, your highness." Moore said, "No idea there was a city under the sea."
For once, Mrs. Moore had no comment as her daughters continued to stare out the window.
"You can call me Aqua, Mr. Moore." Aqua replied, "I can show you and your family more of the city later. But now, we must save Peter and stop my brother from using his storm-making machine."
"A storm-making machine?" Mary asked.
"Yes, my brother used parts that had been thrown down here from the land-dwellers to make a machine to create storms on the water's surface." Aqua paused. "He built it after our mother died from the land-dwellers poisons and used it when he tried to kidnap you and your sister." She flicked the light at the rock wall and turned the boat/sub towards the opening hole.
"We're sorry about your mom, Aqua." Amanda said quietly and took her own mother's hand.
"Thank you." Aqua replied as the boat went into the tunnel.
Everybody was silent as the boat/sub bobbed back up to the surface of the water near a dock. The three Monkees opened the glass top and everyone got out. Several guards ran over.
"Your highness, we're so glad to see you!" A guard exclaimed, then looked at the Moores. "And you've brought more prisoners!" The guards leveled their spears at the Moores.
"NO!" Aqua commanded. "I order all of you to stand down! They are my guests and will not be harmed! Now let us pass, you're wasting our time!"
The guards, surprised by Aqua's tone of voice, lowered their spears and let the group pass. Aqua led the others at a run towards the Aquarium.

At the rig, the other workers were shocked when the man told them Mr. Moore and his family were kidnapped. They refused to believe the man's story that one of the kidnappers was not human. Several of the men wanted to stop the drilling while a search was carried out, but the crew boss shook his head.
"Mr. Moore would want us to continue." He told the others. We've put in too much time and effort to stop now."
"We may have to stop anyway, boss." Another man said, "it's really starting to blow."
Indeed, the sky had gone dark rather quickly and a light rain was beginning to fall.

Peter was scrunched up as much as possible on the rock in the middle of the aquarium. The water was high around him and already the fish were snapping. He knew he would live only seconds after the water came up just a few more inches.....
"Father! Father! Stop the water, please!" Aqua's voice carried through the aquarium. Neptune, who had been watching Peter, turned to see Aqua, the Monkees and the Moores enter the balcony.
"Aqua, my daughter!" Neptune said with relief as he embraced her. "You're safe!"
"But Peter isn't!" Micky yelled, looking down at his friend. "Stop the water!"
Neptune pushed back the switch and the water stopped coming into the aquarium. Peter almost collapsed in relief, then realized how close the hungry fish were and stayed where he was. He smiled and waved at the other three Monkees.
"Hi guys!" Peter shouted up, "I knew you'd be back!"
"And just in time too!" Davy replied with a smile.
Poseidon came down the steps to see the crowd gathered in the balcony.
"Aqua! You're back!" He said joyfully, then turned to glare at the Moores. "Now, father, put these four land-dwellers into the aquarium instead!"
"Please, let me speak." Moore begged.
Neptune nodded his head. "Speak, land-dweller, and make it good." He said ominously.
"I've been in the oil business my whole life, just like my father before me." Moore said nervously. "This is the first time I've tried to drill under the water. I thought it would just be like drilling on land. Until now, I never realized what damage could be done underwater by us land-dwellers because it was hidden from sight. We have an expression; out of sight, out of mind." He took a breath. "I also had no idea of your existence and the existence of Atlantis. To many of my kind, it was simply a fantasy, a made-up story. You have a beautiful city here, more beautiful than many cities we have on land, and I don't want to see it destroyed. Please let us return to the surface and I promise to tell my workers to stop the drilling...forever."
"Your promises are no good, land-dweller." Poseidon sneered. "Your kind even break promises to each other, how can we trust you?"
"Because we all share one thing in common." Mrs. Moore replied, "Our love for each other. I saw how your father embraced Aqua when she returned and how relieved you were when you saw her here. I know my husband loves me and my daughters so I will stay here until my husband stops the drilling above."
Mary and Amanda nodded their heads and took their mom's hands. "We'll stay too if you'll let our dad go back." Amanda said softly.
Neptune and Poseidon were clearly taken aback by this turn of events. Before anyone could speak, another violent quake shook the castle. "Go, land-dweller, stop your drill. Poseidon, stop the storm-making machine." Neptune said.
"Not until the drilling has stopped, father." Poseidon said, "I still don't trust any land-dwellers."
"You dare disobey me?!" Neptune shouted.
"I will not let the fate of Atlantis rest in the hands of a land-dweller, father!" Poseidon shouted back. With that, he raced back up the steps to his laboratory, went inside and locked the door.
"Poseidon!" Aqua shouted after him. She raced up the steps and tried to open the door, but it was tightly locked.
Meanwhile, Joe Moore gave his family a quick hug and ran back to the boat/sub. Mike went over to the button on the wall and let the water out of the Aquarium, then he and Micky and Davy went downstairs. Neptune told the guards to open the Aquarium door. The three Monkees quickly freed Peter and brought him out.
"That was a crazy thing you did, shotgun." Mike said, ruffling Peter's hair, "But very brave."
"Thanks, Mike." Peter said happily. He was just glad to see his friends again. The re-united Monkees gave each other a group hug, then went back up to the balcony and saw Aqua as she came back down the other steps.
"Father, I tried to talk to Poseidon, but he's locked himself in his lab and won't come out!" She said.
Neptune called for his guards and when they came, he ordered them to break down the door to Poseidon's lab. They went up the steps and began to pound on the door. The Monkees followed behind, and hoped they could stop the prince from wreaking havoc on the world above them.

Joe Moore shot the boat/sub back up to the surface. The controls were a little tricky at first, but soon he got the hang of them and had no trouble steering. It was a good thing, too since the drill was causing so much turbulence he had to make sure he didn't crash into the drill itself. Finally, the boat/sub bobbed to the surface not too far from the rig. Instantly, the craft was pelted with driving rain and winds. It was very hard to see where he was going. At last, he managed to steer the boat over to a pylon. He opened the glass top and carefully stood up so as not to be pitched overboard.
"Ahoy, there!" He shouted, "Anybody there! Somebody lift me up!"
But everybody had taken refuge inside from the storm and didn't see or hear him. Spotting a ladder, Moore managed to grab it and slowly climb up to the deck of the rig. At last, someone spotted him and ran out in the rain to him.
"Mr. Moore?!" The man shouted, "Is that you?"
"No, it's the Easter bunny, moron!" Moore shouted back, "Get me into the control room now!"
As the man helped him across the wet deck, he looked around. "Where's your family?"
"I'll tell you later, just help me get inside before it's too late!" Moore shouted.
After what seemed like forever, the two managed to get inside. Moore broke into a run and burst into the control room. Ignoring the shouts of the workers, Moore ran over to one of the control panels and hit the emergency stop. Panting, he looked at the monitors and with a sigh of relief he saw that the drilling had stopped. Moore slumped into a chair, exhausted.
"What's wrong, Mr. Moore?" One of the workers finally dared ask. "Why did you stop the drill?"
Moore smiled up at the man. "It's a very long story, and I've kept my promise, let's hope they keep theirs."
His workers all waited for an explanation, but got none.

Down below, the guards finally broke down the door to Poseidon's lab. Everybody rushed in and looked for the prince. They found him on a catwalk above one of the large machine gears. He was so busy checking the control panel he didn't realize he wasn't alone anymore until the guards grabbed his arms and pulled him away from the machine.
"No, father!" Poseidon yelled, pulling free from the guards, "The storm above is almost at full power!"
"We must let the land-dweller have time to do his part!" Neptune said angrily.
Suddenly, the constant rumbling of the drill outside slowed down and stopped. Everybody stood in shock for a moment, not believing what they were not hearing. The drilling had stopped! Everybody in the room, human and Atlantian, cheered and hugged each other.
"Poseidon! Stop your machine now!" Neptune ordered.
Poseidon raced over to the control panel and began to hit several switches, but suddenly there was a shower of sparks and the machine began to make noise and the blades outside began to turn faster and faster than ever!
"What's going on?" Aqua yelled.
"I can't stop the machine!" Poseidon yelled back. "The improvements I had made to the machine were never tested and now the circuits are fused!"
"Oh no!" Peter exclaimed.
The whole laboratory began to shake with the rumbling of the machine. Poseidon ran down the catwalk to another panel to see if he could do something. Neptune ordered everyone off the catwalk and out of the lab. Everybody scrambled to obey, but Poseidon stayed where he was.
"Poseidon, come on!" Peter shouted.
But the machine began to spark and shake even worse than before and the catwalk began to break away from the machine. Poseidon lost his balance and tumbled off the catwalk, but just managed to grab a railing. He dangled several feet above the churning gears.
"Poseidon!" Aqua screamed.
Peter crawled along the catwalk and over to the prince. "Take my hand!" He shouted.
Poseidon looked shocked. "You want to save me?"
"Yes, come on!" Peter urged.
Poseidon grabbed Peter's hand and the musician was just barely able to pull the prince back onto the shaking catwalk. Slowly, the two crawled down the steps and to safety. Just then, the storm-machine exploded in a rush of broken metal and sparks. Fire extinguishers in the ceiling put out the small fires all around. Poseidon looked at Peter.
"You saved my life. After how I had mis-treated you and your friends and tried to kill you." He said amazed.
"All life is precious, Prince." Peter said, "Including yours."
The prince held out a hand. "I think this is how you land-dwellers thank each other."
Peter smiled and shook Poseidon’s hand as the others cheered.

Later on, a very happy re-union took place as Joe Moore returned to Atlantis. As soon as the storm-machine exploded, the storm on the surface above had quickly dissipated. His family was very happy to see him and hugged him tight. Neptune put his arms around Poseidon and Aqua as well.
Afterwards, there was a great feast in the dining hall of the castle as everybody dined on all types of seafood. Joe Moore and King Neptune spent a long time talking to each other. Then the king called for silence. He raised a glass of kelp wine.
"To our new found friends, the Moores and especially the Monkees." He said, "Without whose help our fair city would've been destroyed. We have all learned that not all land-dwellers are evil and hope one day to make ourselves known to them. Plus I decree that all of you are to be made honorary citizens of Atlantis."
Everybody drank their wine. Joe Moore then stood up.
"To our new found friends King Neptune, Prince Poseidon and especially Princess Aqua, who've shown me the consequences of damaging our oceans. We will keep the existence of Atlantis a secret until there is a time when the land-dwellers can accept it. When we return to the surface, I will tear out the drill and make the rig into a research lab so that our scientists will be able to study and find ways to protect what is above and below the water."
"Here, here." Everybody said and drank more of the wine.

True to his word, Joe Moore shut down the drill permanently. He almost went bankrupt, and faced many lawsuits, but his business recovered and from then on only concentrated on land drilling. Moore donated the rig to the U.N. to become a research lab used by all nations to study the oceans and soon became world-renowned for its breakthrough studies.
The Monkees were escorted back to their pad by Aqua and she gave them a gift from the royal family; seashells made of solid gold and jewels; plus the recipe for seaweed tea.


THE END

By: Mickys411 and Larrysgirl   Rated PG

It was a cool, crisp, clear Halloween night, and The Monkees were getting ready to play at the Richards party.
Since it was going to be a costume ball, the guys thought they dress up as well.
Mike was dressed in jeans, black boots and leather jacket, going as a biker, though he wore his wool hat in place of a helmet.
Peter came downstairs dressed in white sneakers, white pants, white hoodie, and a thin white sheet over his clothes, he was going a ghost, a friendly one named Casper.
"What do you think of my costume Mike, scary uh?" asked Peter.
"It's scarier than the bunny rabbit costume you wore last year," said Mike.
Davy headed down stairs, dressed in nice type clothes, plus a purple colored fake fur cape and a crown on his head. He was dressed as Prince Charming. He looked great in his costume, except the crown kept falling over his eyes.
"Having trouble seeing there," Mike said with a slight laugh.
"Ha ha very funny, but for your information, my costume will impress all the girls there," said Davy.
Just then, Micky appear dressed in his pirate costume, complete with a patch over his eye, a hook on his hand and a fake bird on his shoulder.
"Groovy costume there," said Davy.
"Thanks,” said Micky who then began to sing a pirate song, “Sixteen men on a dead man's chest Yo ho ho.."
"And a bottle of milk," Peter sang.
"Uh Peter, you're a ghost, all you say is boo."
"How do I do that?"
"Boo!"
"That was good, thought I never heard of pirates going boo."
"Say, how are you going to play drums with a hook on your hand?" asked Davy.
Micky went to the bandstand picked up one of his drumsticks, which had a hole at the bottom, placed the drumstick on the hook and began to play.
"See no problem,” said Micky, as the hook fell off his hand, “Or I can play without the hook.”
"Never mind, let's get going," said Mike.
The guys gathered their instruments, drove downtown in the Monkeemobile, and arrived at the Richards home a few moments later. The home was actually a mansion, it was a huge mansion as a matter of fact.
The Monkees walked up to the front door, and Mike knocked.
The door opened, and there stood a man and woman dressed in Victorian looking clothes.
In turned out to be Mr. and Mrs. Richards, who were already in costume for their party.
"Come on in boys, you're just in time," said Mr. Richards inviting the guys in.
"The guest will be arriving very soon, plenty of time for you to set up in the ballroom," said Mrs. Richards.
"Thanks Mr. Richards, Mrs. Richards," said Mike.
"Please call us Morgan and Ted,” said Mrs. Richards, “You know we normally hire a string or jazz band for our parties, but I thought it would be a nice change for the kids."
"Kids?" asked Peter.
"Yes, we have two. We have a son Ted Jr. who lives San Diego with his family, but our daughter Emily is here."
"Our niece Lucy and some friends of theirs are here for the party,” said Mr. Richards, he then indicating his head upstairs, “Girls come meet the band!"
Four young woman, who were about the same age as the guys came down stairs.
A blonde dressed in as a princess, a brunette in a cat costume, a red haired dressed as a mermaid, and a girl with black hair dressed as a witch.
The Monkees took a shine to the girls instantly.
Little did everyone know, outside, there was something going on.
"So my boys, do we have everything ready for tonight’s robbery at the Richards mansion?” said a familiar voice.
It was Mama Maria the gypsy and her sons.
"Yes Mama," said Marco.
"Good, but I see those pigeon Monkees are at the house, but I know how to take of them."
Maria and her sons then began to laugh.

As the Monkees set up their equipment, they talked to the four girls. The blond, dressed as a princess, was named Gwen and took a liking to Mike and him to her.
"So, Mike." Gwen said, "How long have you guys been together?"
"Just a few years." Mike replied, "But sometimes it's tough to find work with all these rock bands around."
"I'll bet you find a lot of girls when you wear that jacket." Gwen smiled.
"This old thing?" Mike laughed lightly.
"No, it's a nice jacket." Gwen said, then whispered in Mike's ear. "I've always liked men wearing leather."
Mike almost dropped his guitar.
Meanwhile, Micky was marking time with Lucy, who was wearing the cat costume. She gently laid a hand on his upper arm.
"I'll bet you've developed strong muscles from carrying that heavy drum set around, Micky." Lucy said.
"Would you like to find out later?" Micky asked.
"Meow." Lucy replied.
Davy was trying to talk to Emily, who was wearing the mermaid costume, but the crown on his head kept falling over his eyes. Giggling, Emily took the crown off his head and put some of her plastic seaweed inside the brim. She then put the crown back on his head. It now fit perfectly. Davy smiled at her.
"You've come to my aid, dear lady." He said royally, "How may this Prince charming repay you?"
"You may sweep me off my feet later, your majesty." Emily replied.
Davy kissed Emily's hand in reply.
Peter stood off to the side and talked to Susan, who was dressed as a witch. "You know, we make the perfect Halloween couple." Peter told her. "I'm a ghost and you're a witch."
Susan smiled at Peter. "Want to haunt a house later?"
"Boo." Peter replied.
Just then, Ted called over to the girls.
"Emily, Lucy, Gwen and Susan!" He said, "Our guests are arriving! Let's get ready to greet them!"
"Ok, Dad." Emily replied reluctantly. She and the other girls turned to the Monkees. "We'll see you guys, later, ok?"
"Count on it, ladies." Micky said.
The four girls walked out of the ballroom to join Emily's parents in greeting their guests.
"What groovy girls." Davy said to the others.
"Got that right, shotgun." Mike replied. "Let's make sure we're tuned up."

The Richards and the girls stood by the door and greeted the guests as they came inside. Everybody was wearing a costume, each one seemed fancier than the last. Soon, the house was filled with pharaohs, knights, pilgrims, gangsters...and gypsies. Since this was a costume party, Maria and her sons had no trouble blending in with the rest of the party guests. When they had been greeted by the Richards, they passed themselves off as distant relatives from Europe. Now, they would have no trouble moving around the mansion. Maria gathered her sons around her.
"You boys know what to do now?" She whispered.
"Yes, Mama." Zeppo replied, "But what about those Monkees?"
"Just leave that to me." Maria smiled.

When The Richards saw that all the guests had arrived, the party started, and The Monkees began to play.
The people at the ball really enjoyed the group, especially Gwen, Emily, Lucy and Susan.
During the ball, since Maria and her boys were free to tour the mansion, they began to search many rooms.
"Look at all this loot sons,” said Maria, “So priceless, and so full of riches."
"It sure is Mama, but how are we going to get this stuff out of here?" asked Rocco.
"Yeah, especially with those Monkees here?" asked Marco.
Maria then gathered her sons to talk over what she had in mind.
"Don't worry boys, as I mentioned I know what to do with those Monkee Pigeons," She said.

Meanwhile back at the party, although the guests didn't seem to notice the group of “gypsies”, the guys thought that the group looked familiar to them.

"You know, I have the strangest feeling that we've seen that group of gypsies before," said Davy.
"Stop worrying, they're just party guests," said Micky.
"Yeah, but that woman looked familiar to me," said Mike.
"Same here, and so did those men with her," said Peter.
Then it hit The Monkees.
"That was Maria and her sons!" the guys said together.

Maria and her sons went back to the ballroom, and began to hatch their crime.
"Zeppo, you and Rocco go to the basement, and turn off the main power switch, said Maria, “Marco, you and Kiko stay with me.”
"Right Mama," said Marco.
And with that, Rocco and Zeppo exited the ballroom, and headed to the basement, while Maria, Marco, and Kiko tried to mingle in with the other guests so no one would suspect anything.
Just then, the lights went out, and everything went black. There were a few screams heard in the darkness.
A few seconds later, the lights came back on to everyone's relief.
However, something was wrong.
"My diamond earrings! they're gone!" screamed one woman.
"My bracelet’s missing!" cried another guest.
"So is my wallet!" shouted a man.
"What are we going to do dear?" asked Morgan, who was frightened by all this.
"Don't worry honey," said Ted.
He turned to guests and began to speak, "Everyone please calm down, we must…”
Ted was interrupted by a guest who yelled, "Thief!"
"Thief!" shouted someone else.
"Where is the thief?" asked Morgan.
"Make that four thieves!" shouted a guest, pointing to The Monkees.
Sure enough, on the bandstand where The Monkees were, the entire bandstand and the guys were surround by wallets, jewelry, and other valuable items.
"We didn't do it!" said Davy, who had a bright red necklace in his hand.
"My ruby necklace!" cried one woman.
"We stood here the whole time the power was out!" said Micky, who then noticed a Rolex wrapped on his hook.
"My watch!" shouted a man.
"We didn't have anything to do with it!" said Peter, who noticed he had a fur wrapped around him.
"My mink coat!" yelled one woman.
"This is getting out of control, we didn't rob anyone!" said Mike, who then saw he had a wallet in his jacket.
"What a minute, this isn't my wallet."
"That's because it belongs to me!" called out one man.
"Somebody call the police!" yelled a guest.
"Wait! don't we get a saying in on this?" asked Micky.
"No!" shouted the guests.
Ted and Morgan had no choice but to call the police.
And soon enough, the police came.
Morgan told the Emily, Gwen, Lucy and Susan to go upstairs, so they won't be upset by this scene of events. However, the girls believed the Monkees were not guilty, but they never got a chance to say a word.
All the items were returned to the guests, and the Monkees were escorted outside to the police car.
"But we didn't do it." said Davy.
"You all have the right to remain silent, now get in the car!" ordered the policeman.
The Monkees did as then were told, and soon they were on their way to the police station.
The officers took the guys inside the station, and placed them in a holding cell. Peter began to cry softly.
"Don't cry Pete.” said Mike, trying to calm his friend.
"But we got in trouble for something we didn't do," Peter sniffled.
"So what's gonna happen now?" wondered Davy.
Micky poked his head to the side of the door, and tried to hear what the policemen were saying.
"I hate to say this, " he said, But judging by the way the officers are talking, this doesn't look good."

Back at the Richards' mansion, Emily, her cousin and their friends were talking to Emily's parents.
"Dad, the Monkees are innocent!" Emily said with tears in her eyes.
"There's no way those nice boys could've stolen those things!" Lucy put in.
"Girls, you saw it as well as we did." Ted replied. "They had all that jewelry, furs and wallets on them."
"How could the Monkees have stolen all those things so fast?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah," Susan said, looking thoughtful, "It was dark too. How could the Monkees have stolen all those things, in the dark, and made it back to the bandstand in just a few seconds?"
"If they had time to steal all that stuff, wouldn’t they have hidden it too?" Emily asked her parents.
"It doesn't make sense to stand there with all those stolen things so people can see them." Lucy finished.
Ted and Morgan looked at each other. The girls had a point. How could the Monkees stolen so much so fast and in the dark too? Morgan spoke up.
"Unless the items were stolen beforehand..."
"And placed on the Monkees!" Gwen exclaimed. "They were set up!"
"Wait a minute!" Ted put in. "I admit, you girls have brought up some good points, but the fact is that they were caught with the stolen items on them. Let's let the police sort it all out for us."
Little did any of the six know, Maria and Zeppo overheard the conversation. Maria frowned and quickly called her boys together.
"Those young girls are too smart for their own good." She whispered angrily. "We'll have to work quickly. You boys know what to do next?"
Her sons nodded their heads and Marco spoke up, "But what do we do about the girls?"
"If they get in the way, we'll take care of them...permanently."
The gypsies chuckled at that.

Meanwhile, the Monkees sat in their holding cell waiting to be charged with several counts of robbery. Mike paced back and forth in their small cell.
"It was Maria and her sons who framed us!" he said for the twentieth time.
"We know, Mike." Micky replied, "But the stolen items were found on us, not them."
"Why did they plant those items on us?" Peter asked.
"To get us out of the way, so they could rob the place for real." Davy replied, "We have to get out of here and warn the Richards that they're gonna be robbed!"
"How?" Mike asked. "We have little money and I won't waste a nickel asking Babbit to bail us out."
With a heavy sigh, Mike sat down on the bunk with the others. They had been set up but good, and there didn't seem anyway to get out of this mess.

Since it was getting late, the officers thought it would be a good idea to keep The Monkees over-night in the cell. In fact, the guys might end up spending more time in the cell, if nobody continued to believe them about Maria and her boys.
The next morning, the guys woke up from a sleepless night, plus they were still in their costumes from the party.
Just then, the police officer who arrested them came to their cell.
"Ok gentlemen, your bail’s here." said the officer.
"Bail?" The Monkees said together.
Who would bail them out? It couldn't be Babbit, because they didn't call to tell them where they where. In fact, even if the guys told Babbit they were in jail, he still wouldn't bail them out. It couldn’t have been the Richards, because they were the ones who called the police on the guys.
As the Monkees headed for the main office, they saw the people who bailed them out.
The guys couldn’t believe when they saw who bailed them out.
"Gwen?" said Mike.
"Susan?" said Peter.
"Lucy? said Micky.
"Emily? What are you girls doing here?" asked Davy.
"We came to bail you out," said Gwen.
"Why?"
"We believe you guys weren't the ones who robbed the guests," said Susan.
"How did you get the money to bail us out?" asked Micky.
"We put our money together, and we had enough to get all four of you out," said Lucy.
"That was very sweet, but you didn't have to do that," said Peter.
"We know we didn't, but we wanted to help you guys," said Emily.
The Monkees were very touched by this; no one had ever done such a nice thing for them before. The hugged the girls in gratitude, and thanked them a number of times.
The guys remembered that their car was still at the Richards house and asked if they can go back to the Richards home to get it back.

Emily told them that it not a good idea to go back to her house, because her parents told her, Lucy, Susan and Gwen not to make contact with the guys. In fact, she actually told Ted and Morgan that they were going to the mall, because Emily knew her folks would be upset if they found out she went to the police station and spent her money bailing out supposed thieves.
So the Monkees decided to walk home, and invited the girls to come with them. They joined the guys.
When the guys returned home, they all got cleaned up and changed their clothes, while the girls waited downstairs for them.
"You guys have a groovy looking pad," said Lucy, looking around the pad.
"Thanks," Peter, coming down the stairs.
"You know, we’d play you some music, but we left our instrument at the Richards too," said Davy.
"That's ok," said Gwen.
"Say, how are we going to get the car and our instrument back?" asked Micky.
"Don't worry,” said Susan, turning to Emily, “I 'm sure your parents will let the guys get their stuff back."
"I sure hope so, said Emily, “To tell you the truth, with those supposed relatives of mine staying, I don't really think I want to go home."
"Relatives?" The Monkees asked all together.
"Yeah, you probably saw them at the party last night. They were that group of people dressed as gypsies."
The four Monkees looked at the girls in total shock.
"The gypsies are staying at YOUR home?!" Mike exclaimed.
"Yeah," Emily replied, "They're taking over the place, leaving their clothes around and eating us out of house and home."
"They're gonna do more than that, I'm afraid!" Davy said, looking at the other Monkees.
"Why? What's wrong?" Lucy asked.
"Let's sit down and we'll explain." Micky said.
Everybody sat down and the Monkees told the girls that about a year ago, they came across Maria and her sons. They had beaten the Gypsies out of an audition to perform at Madam Rantha's house. In anger, the Gypsies kidnapped them, tied them up and threatened them with torture if they didn't help steal the Maltese Vulture from Madam Rantha's house. But once at the house, the Monkees fought the Gypsies off and Maria and her sons were arrested.
"....but now it seems they're out of jail and up to their tricks again." Peter finished.
"They stole all those items at your parents' party last night and planted it all on us to get us out of the way." Mike added.
"But we can't prove it." Davy said.
Emily, Lucy, Gwen and Susan looked at each, flabbergasted. Emily finally spoke.
"And those people are in my house right now?" She asked.
The four Monkees nodded sadly at her.
"Let me use your phone." Emily said, getting up from the couch, "I have to warn my parents."
"Wait!" Micky said. "Your folks will want to know how you know all this. You said you didn't tell them you were bailing us out."
"They won't believe you, either." Mike said, "They'll just be mad you lied to them."
"Well, what can we do?" Gwen asked.
"Go back and try and keep an eye on things." Davy replied. "If you see anything missing, report it right away."
The girls got up, followed by the Monkees. Mike looked at the girls solemnly.
"But above all...please be careful. They're not above hurting someone to get their way."
"We don't want anything to happen to you girls." Peter said quietly.
Gwen, Emily, Susan and Lucy went over Mike, Davy, Peter and Micky and gave them a hug and a kiss.
"Thanks, guys." Susan said with a smile, "For warning us about the gypsies."
"What will you guys do?" Lucy asked as the girls walked to the door.
"We'll disguise ourselves and come over later." Mike replied. "We'll try to catch the gypsies in the act."
"Good plan." Susan said, nodding.
The girls said their goodbyes and left the pad to go back to the Richards' house. Peter looked at Mike.
"I don't like the idea of them being in that house with those un-nice gypsies around." He said, remembering how the gypsies almost killed him when the others didn't steal the vulture in time.
"I don't either." Mike replied, "They went though a lot of trouble for us. I don't want them in danger, but maybe they can show Ted and Morgan that Maria and her sons are up to no good."
"Let's go put on some disguises and get back over there fast." Micky told the others.
The Monkees went into their bedrooms to change.

The Monkees sat around, thinking of how they were going to get to the Richards house.
Just then, the phone rang.
It was Emily, as the guys gave her as well as Lucy, Susan, and Gwen their phone number to let them know if they see anything unusual.
Emily said that when she returned home, the gypsies were asking her all these questions, and kept watching her every move, so she was staying at Gwen and Susan's apartment, as was Lucy, because her parents were becoming friendly with Maria and her sons.
"I think Maria believes the girls know something," said Davy.
"We gotta do something before something happens to the girls," said Micky.
"But what can we do?" asked Peter.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we can think of something," said Mike.
Just then, a thought popped into his head.
"I just thought of sure fire plan."

Meanwhile, Maria was busy keeping Ted and Morgan occupied while her sons were slowly stripping the house of all its antiques and jewelry. Maria sat with them in the drawing room and made sure she kept the Richards entertained with all her stories of life in Europe.
"Wow, Maria.” Morgan said. "I didn't know you gypsies had so many problems."
"Yes, it is true." Maria replied, shaking her head. "We are from the poor side of the family and had to ste..er..work for what we have."
Ted looked at his wife. "Dear, have you seen Emily or the other girls?"
"Emily and Lucy told me that since the house is crowded right now, they're staying at Gwen and Susan's place."
Maria smiled to herself. At least those nosy girls were out of the way.
"Well, they can at least come over for dinner." Ted replied. "Call them and ask them to come over tonight."
"That's a fine idea, Ted." Morgan replied as she got up off the couch.
Maria's eyes narrowed. Her boys were almost done stripping the place clean, and didn't need those girls around. Still, she couldn't say anything as it would attract suspicion.
A few minutes later, Morgan came back and sat down. She had a slight frown on her face.
"What's wrong, Morgan?" Ted asked.
"Emily said she and the girls would come, but didn't sound too happy about it."
Ted just shrugged. "You know teenagers, they don't want to be around us old people."
Maria just gave the Richards a fake smile.

As the Monkees got ready to put their plan into action, the phone rang. Mike jumped over the couch and got it on the second ring.
"Hello? Hi Emily, is everything ok?" Mike asked quickly. "You and the others are going to your parents tonight for dinner? Oh boy." He looked at the other Monkees. "Just go there and pretend everything's ok. We have a plan to stop Maria and her sons. Ok, bye."
Mike hung up the phone. "You heard?" He asked the others.
"Yeah, we don't have much time." Micky said.
The Monkees quickly raced out the door.

Later that evening, the four girls went over to Emily's house for dinner. They were nervous, but knew they couldn't let the Richards' be robbed.
"Hi, girls!" Morgan said brightly when she opened the door. "Come on in."
The girls smiled and walked inside and into the living room. Ted, Maria and Zeppo were there. The other gypsies were not around. Maria and Zeppo glared at the girls.
"Hi, Dad, Maria and Zeppo." Gwen said, looking around. "Where's your other sons, Maria?"
"Yeah, I thought we were all going to have dinner?" Susan said pointedly.
"Um, they will be here shortly." Maria said quickly, "Shall we eat now?" She asked Ted.
"Sure, I'm starved." He replied. "Let's go."
Everybody went to the dining room. Inside, along the wall, were four butlers in black tuxes waiting to serve. They all were wearing mustaches, but Emily, Gwen, Susan and Lucy immediately recognized the Monkees.
Morgan looked at the Monkees.
"Who are you four?" She asked.
"The employment agency sent us." Micky replied in a low voice. "You needed more help with the extra guests."
"Very good. Serve the first course." Morgan replied.
The Monkees began to serve the soup. Lucy coughed and said to the others. "Excuse me, I need to get a drink of water."
She got up and left the room. Micky quietly followed her.
"You guys got some good disguises." Lucy told Micky when they were outside the room.
"Yeah, it's all we could think of in a hurry." Micky replied. "We can't explore too much, but keep your eyes open."
Just then, the two of them heard a loud bump upstairs in one of the bedrooms, and some cursing in a foreign language.
"They're in my Aunt and Uncle's bedroom!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Go back to the dining room." Micky told Lucy, "I'll check it out."
"But you'll be missed...." Lucy said.
"So will you. I'll be ok." Micky told her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Try and tell the others. Discreetly."
Lucy nodded as Micky went upstairs.
Lucy went back to the dinning room, carrying a glass of water in her hand.
"Is everything alright dear?" asked Morgan.
"Yes Aunt Morgan," said Lucy.
"Why was the butler following you to the kitchen?" asked Ted.
"I wanted to ask him if any of the food that was going to be served had olives in them.
I'm allergic to them."
Just then, Peter, Davy and Mike came out carrying trays with soup on them.
"This looks tasty," said Morgan.
"Merci’ Madam," said Mike, trying to speak in a French accent.
"Where's Micky?" asked Gwen, whispering in Lucy's ear.
"He's upstairs looking for those other gypsies," Lucy whispered back.
Although the girls whispered quietly, it was loud enough for the Monkees to hear it.
"Would you excuse us for a minute, we have to check on the rest of the meal," said Mike, still trying to speak in his accent.
"Take you time gentlemen," said Ted.
The guys then raced into the kitchen.
"If it's only Maria and Zeppo at the table, that means Marco, Rocco and Kiko must be upstairs," said Davy.
"I'll go upstairs to see if Micky needs any help," said Peter rushing to the stair case.
"Careful," Mike called out.
As Peter got upstairs, he began to search for Micky. He opened a door, and sure enough there was Micky tied up with Marco keeping guard, while Rocco and Kiko were grabbing items from the closets and drawers, and putting the items, which consist of jewels, money, and other valuables items into bags.
But everyone stopped what they were doing, when Peter opened the door.
"Well, it looks like another one of those Monkee pigeons," said Rocco with a laugh.
"Marco, tie him up with the other one," said Kiko.
"Marco don't have to take orders from Kiko. Marco have orders from Mama," said Marco with a pout.
"What were Mama's orders then?"
"She told me to tie up the Monkee pigeons, if they snoop around."
"Never mind, grab him!" ordered Rocco.
"Marco don't have orders from Rocco either.”
"You're such a Mama's boy Marco," said Kiko.
The three were so busy arguing, that they didn't notice Peter untying Micky. The gypsies were still bickering, as the two escaped from the room. They raced down the stairs and got into the kitchen, where they found Mike and Davy were getting ready to serve the salad.
"What happen to you two?" asked Mike.
"We gotta get everyone out of here, before Moe, Larry and Curly stop bickering," said Micky.
"I thought it was Marco, Rocco and Kiko were upstairs robbing the house," said Peter.
"But what are we going to do about the dinner party?" asked Davy.
"Yeah, the food will get cold." said Peter.
Davy, Mike and Micky just gave Peter an odd look.
"Never mind, we gotta do something," said Mike.

The Monkees stood in the kitchen for a few moments, before deciding what they were going to do.
"I guess we only have one thing to do," said Mike, with a sigh.
The other three Monkees agreed, and went back to the dining room.
"Is everything ok gentlemen?" asked Ted.
"Not really,” said Mike, removing the fake mustache from his face, as did Micky, Peter and Davy.
"You’re not butlers!” shouted Morgan, “You're those musicians!"
"Yes, but you never got to prove we didn't do it," said Davy.
"That's right,” said Peter, “We didn't steal from your guests at the party."
"Then who did it?" asked Ted.
"It was them," said Micky indicating Maria and Zeppo.
"How dare you accuse our family!” yelled Morgan, “Girls, call the police!"
"No Mother!" said Emily.
"Why?"
"Because we believe the guys didn't do it." said Susan.
"The one thing I want to know is, how did you boys get out of jail?" said Ted.
"We bailed them out," said Gwen.
"That day we told you we we're going shopping, we really were getting the guys out of prison,” said Lucy, “Besides, they're our friends."
The Monkees felt glad that they had the girls on their side, however now they were worried, because they feared the Maria and her sons may do something terrible.
"And they're not your family. We actually met these trouble making gypsies before," said Davy.
"These crazy kids today. Always mixing up people for other folks they've seen," said Maria.
Morgan then spotted something on Maria's hand.
"My ruby ring!" she cried.
"Oh.. this is a very old, Gypsy family jewel.”
"Then how come I never saw you wear it before, till now?"
"It was lost for years, but I found it.”
Ted noticed something hanging out of Zeppo's vest pocket.
"My Great-Grandfather's pocket watch!" he shouted.
"So the girls and the Monkees were telling the truth the whole time," said Morgan
"Enough of this!” Said Maria, “Zeppo get your brothers, we're leaving!"
Maria and Zeppo hurried up the stairs to find Marco, Kiko and Rocco.
"We have to stop them." said Ted about to chase after them.
The Monkees stopped him.
"No, you just get Morgan and the girls out of here," said Mike.
"What about you gentlemen?"
"Wait outside for us, then you all can stay at our pad, then we can call the police," said Davy.
Ted then rushed Morgan and the girls out of the house.
Just as the Monkees were heading for the door, Maria and her boys came back down stairs, carrying armfuls of priceless items, and she slammed and locked the door shut.
"Going somewhere Monkee pigeons?" asked Maria, with a wicked looking smile on her face.
"Actually, we were going out for some fresh air," said Micky, with an unsure laugh.
"Yeah, fresh air," said Peter, with the same type of laugh.
"I don't think so," said Maria.
"The Monkees are still in there! We have to do something." said Morgan.
"Don't worry Mom, we know what to do," said Emily.
"Any we know the way to the pad," said Lucy.
"I don't know," said Ted.
"Please Mr. Richards," said Gwen.
"You have to trust us," said Susan.
Ted and Morgan listened to the girls. They all got into the Richards car, and took off.
Although the gypsies didn't see it, the Monkees saw that everyone got away safely to the pad. The guys were glad that not only did everyone got away, but it was a good thing that Maria and her sons had no clue where the pad was located.
Maria looked over at Marco. "Before we take care of these meddling Monkees, is that all of the Richards' belongings?
"No, Mama." Marco said sadly. "There is safe in library that we cannot open."
"Then go get one of the Richards. We'll force them to open the safe."
Marco dropped his stuff on the floor and ran to the dining room. Seconds later, he ran back, a frightened look on his face.
"Mama! They are gone! No Richards, no girls!"
Maria glared at the four Monkees. "You helped them escape, didn't you?" She asked evilly.
"Yeah, they're probably at the police station by now." Mike said with a smile.
"Or at the pad." Peter added.
Micky quickly slapped his hand over Peter's mouth, but Maria still heard him.
"Pad?" She asked, "What is pad?"
The Monkees didn't answer.
Zeppo grabbed Mike by his shirt. "Mama asked you a question, Monkee!" He growled.
Mike and the other Monkees still stayed silent. They couldn't let Maria and her sons know where the pad was.
"We are waiting, boys." Maria said slowly.
"You'll have a long wait, Maria." Davy replied defiantly.
Kiko made to slap Davy, but his Mother stopped him.
"Wait, Kiko." She said, "Bring them into the kitchen."
"Oh good, I'm hungry." Peter said brightly.
"I don't think they want to feed us, Peter." Micky said.
The Monkees were dragged towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the Richards and the four girls arrived at the Monkees pad. Lucy searched around and found the front door key under the mat and let everyone inside.
"What a place." Ted remarked, shaking his head.
"Could use a little cleaning." Morgan concurred and looked at her daughter. "Emily, I still think the police should be notified about those gypsies."
"They will, Mom." Emily replied. "First we have to save the Monkees."
"How?" Ted asked.
But the four girls had run off into the bedrooms, leaving Ted and Morgan scratching their heads.

The gypsies brought the Monkees into the kitchen and tied them to the chairs. Maria walked over to the gas stove and turned it on to its highest level. Then she took several knives and placed the tips against the flame. Her sons quickly caught on and smiled at their mother. Maria turned to her prisoners.
"Just like old times, eh boys?" She chuckled. "We did something like this last time and you co-operated."
"We won't help you." Mike told her.
"Yes you will." Maria replied. "Now, tell us where this 'pad' is or it's a hot knife for you."
The Monkees looked fearfully at each other, but didn't want to tell Maria where the Richards and the girls had gone. Maria nodded to Marco who grinned evilly and picked up a hot knife; then quickly gave out a yell and dropped the knife on the floor. His mother rolled her eyes.
"Use a towel to hold the knife, Marco." She told her son.
Marco grabbed a towel and picked up the knife once again. He walked over to the Monkees.....
"Wait! Wait!" Davy yelled, "We'll tell you!"
"Where is it?" Maria demanded. "Where is this 'pad'?! Where are the Richards and those nebby girls?"
"They're at 1234 Uppercrust Lane." Davy replied.
Maria waved back a disappointed Marco. "Very good!" She smiled. "Let's go get them and bring them back here, boys!" She told her sons. "Then we'll force them to open their safe and get ALL their riches!"
Laughing, the gypsies walked out of the kitchen and left the house. Micky looked at Davy.
"What address did you give them, Davy?" He asked.
"The address to the house we're in right now." Davy smiled. "It'll take those clowns awhile to realize they've been tricked. Let's try to get free." He nudged his chair over so that his back was to Mike's, then got to work on his ropes. Micky moved behind Peter and did the same.
Finally, Davy got Mike free and Mike quickly untied the others. They made their way to the front door once again.
"I hope Ted, Morgan and the girls are ok." Peter told the others.
"They'll be safe at the pad." Mike assured him as they walked into the main foyer.
However, as they came into the main foyer, the Monkees found it blocked by Maria and her sons. They were not looking happy at all.
"You Monkees have made a Monkey out of us for the last time!" Maria shouted. "Kill them, boys!"
Maria's sons pulled out switchblades and advanced on the Monkees. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Maria opened it and found herself being hugged by several young ladies all wearing gypsy-style clothing like her. It was Lucy, Gwen, Susan and Emily in disguise.
"Cousin Maria!" The girls said happily.
"Do I know you girls?" She asked, puzzled.
"You mean you don't recognize your cousins twice-removed from your uncle Vladimir's side?" Lucy asked.
"Er..yes, yes, of course I do!" Maria said quickly. "What brings you here?"
"We heard through the grapevine you and your sons have made a good life for yourselves stealing from others, and we wanted to learn from you!" Gwen replied.
"Who are they?" Susan asked, pointing at the Monkees.
"Oh, some pigeons we were going to take care of." Maria replied.
"Why?" Gwen asked. "They look like nice boys!" She gave Mike a quick wink.
"Oh, they are troublemakers, just like you four girls are!" Maria said with a smirk.
"What are you talking about?" Emily replied, getting nervous.
"Real gypsies don't wear high-heeled shoes." Maria replied, pointing at their feet.
Sure enough, the girls had on bright scarves and blouses, but forgot to wear boots to complete their disguises. They had high-heels shoes on.
"Um, well, we're trying to blend in with the city-folk." Susan laughed nervously, as the girls tried to back towards the door.
But Zeppo slammed the door shut and locked it.
"You girls aren't going anywhere." He laughed.
The Monkees ran over to the girls and held them close.
"Please, Maria." Micky begged, "Don't hurt them!"
"We'll do what you want!" Davy exclaimed.
Maria simply smiled and grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her away from Davy.
"I want you, foolish girl, to open your parents' safe."
"Never!" Emily shouted at Maria.
"Even if it cost you the lives of your friends?" Maria asked evilly.
"Don't do it, Emily." Lucy said, "Don't let these thieves have anything."
The other girls and the Monkees nodded in agreement, but Emily shook her head.

“I don’t want anything to happen to anyone.” She looked at Maria. “Follow me.”
Emily led Maria and her sons up the stairs, followed by The Monkees as well as Gwen, Susan and Lucy. They all went into the library, when they entered, Maria and her boys went straight to the safe.
"Give me the combination! And it better be the right one, or else!" Ordered Maria.
Emily took a deep breath and began to speak. "13-27-46."
Rocco turned the combination lock, and sure enough the safe opened.
Just then, there was a loud shrilling noise, and a large cage came down on Maria and her sons.
"What's happening Mama?" Whimpered Marco.
"We forgot to mention, the safe is computer operated," said Lucy.
"What does that mean?" asked Peter in curiosity.
"The safe can identify intruders," said Gwen.
"And when that happens, an alarm goes off," said Susan.
Rocco and Kiko tried to lift the cage off of themselves, their brothers and Maria, but the two got shocked trying to do it.
"Plus, there's high volts on that cage. When it comes to our family possessions, Dad's makes sure everything’s' 100% safe," said Emily.
Suddenly, more people entered the library, it was Morgan and Ted, as well as several policemen, the same ones who arrested the monkees.
"So Maria, I see you and your sons are up to your own tricks again?" Said one officer.
"Judging by the state you're in, we see you haven't learned your lesson," said another policeman.
Ted deactivated the alarm, and the cage was lifted off Maria and her boys, however, they then had handcuffs placed on them. The policemen led Maria and her sons out of the house, meanwhile one of the officers stayed to talk to the Monkees, the girls and the Richards.
"I'd like to apologize as well as the whole force for the misunderstanding, thinking you gentlemen committed this crime." Said the officer to the monkees.
"Thank you officer," said Mike.
"The one thing I’d like to know is, how did you girls plan all this?" asked Davy.
"Easy, we had a feeling that Maria wanted to get that combination, and she would get it any way she can," said Emily.
"So we disguised ourselves as gypsies and came back to the house hoping plan A would work," said Gwen.
"And when that didn't help, we went with Maria," said Lucy.
"Then we remembered about the safe, and played the rest by ear," said Susan.
"Well, it worked great," said Micky.
The guys hugged the girls to thank them for believing in them the whole time, and for helping them so many times.
"Say, how did you know if the safe would get robbed?" Davy asked the officer.
"All the residents in the neighborhood have the same system, and we have a special code that tells us when one of the houses had been either robbed or broken into," said the officer.
"So, if I opened the safe I can have the same happen to me like Maria," asked Peter.
The officer nodded his head in a yes manner.
"Pete, No!" shouted Mike, Micky and Davy at the same time.
But it was too late. Peter typed in the combination, and once again the alarm went off and the cage landed right on him.
"Oops," he said, with an embarrassed smile.
Instead of being angry, everyone just laughed.
"We too want to apologize for everything," said Morgan.
"Is there anything we can do for you gentlemen?" asked Ted.
"You don't have to.” said Mike.
"It was an honest mistake you know," said Davy.
"As long as Maria and her sons got what they deserve, that all that matters," said Micky.
Ted and Morgan did make it up to the monkees, as well as the Richards’ friends. They had another costume ball, to make up for the one that was ruined because of the misunderstanding with the guys and Maria.

This time everyone had a wonderful time, as did the Monkees.
Not only did they got their chance to perform, but they got to dance with the girls as well.
As for Maria and her sons, they were sentenced to 15-20 years, for robbery, kidnapping and assault.

The End.