By: Marmadas and Larrysgirl    Rated G

Mike hung up the phone with a bang, growled, then turned back to the salami sandwich he'd been eating.
"Who was that, Mike?" Davy quizzed.
"The manager of the Vincent Van Goh Goh. He said our gig was cancelled in favour of a new band he auditioned today."
"What?" Micky was indignant. "How dare a new band come in and take our spot at the Vincent! We oughtta go there tonight and let them know we won't go down without a fight!"
"Just so long as it's not too violent," Peter cautioned. "I hate violence."
"Well, not a fistfight sort of fight," Micky explained. "We just gotta let those guys know that they can't just come in and push us around! This is our territory!"
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Davy went over and opened the peephole.
"It's Babbitt!" he whispered before opening the door and hiding behind it. He didn't want to get yelled at for not having the rent. Micky managed to dash into the downstairs bathroom, and Mike went out the back door. Peter was left to face the landlord himself.
"Well, well, well," Babbitt said, walking in. "Here by yourself, eh? Well, I was hoping to talk to all four of you boys, but you'll just have to tell the others."
"Tell them what?" Peter asked.
"Oh, I'm just letting you know that I just got the place next door rented out. Very nice people. Maybe you boys could stop by sometime and make them feel welcome, you know."
"Oh, sure," Peter said, "we can do that." He crossed his fingers, hoping their landlord wouldn't mention the overdue rent, as Babbitt began walking toward the door. Suddenly, he turned back around to Peter.
"By the way, you boys don't happen to have the rent that was due two weeks ago, do you?"
"N-no, Mr. Babbitt, sir," Peter stammered. "We were gonna play a gig tonight, but it got cancelled."
"Well, you'd better have it by next week, or I AM KICKING YOU OUT!" With that, he slammed the door, and the other Monkees came out of hiding.
"So, what did old hard-nose want?" Mike asked, jumping off the bandstand.
"He said some people moved in next door, and that we should go meet them," Peter explained. "I was just about to head over."
"No, man, we can't," Micky declared, "We don't want to be late seeing this great new Malibu band. Let's get ready and go."
~*~
Twenty minutes later the four Monkees walked into the Vincent. The place was jammed to bursting full of people. They elbowed their way to the front of the crowd just as the band strode onstage. All four jaws hit the floor as they realized an undeniable fact. They'd been replaced... by a group of girls!
One of the girls, a guitar strung over her back, moved over to a microphone, cleared her throat, brushed her wavy black bangs out of her eyes, and introduced the group.
"Hi," she began, "We're the Leemurs. Leemurs with two 'ee's. My name is Michelle Nesbit, I play the guitar. Over on bass," she pointed to a girl with sandy-blonde hair who plucked at the strings of her instrument, "you see Petra Torch, on percussion," a short girl with dark hair shook her maracas for emphasis, "is Daisy Jonas, and back there," she motioned to a curly-haired brunette, "is our drummer, Nikki Dolette. Once again, we are the Leemurs!" Applause broke out, and they began the first chords of a song, Daisy singing the vocals"
"I wish for liberation,
resembling the navy fowl soaring beside me,
Similar to the waves out upon the cerulean ocean.
If your affection must bind me,
Do not attempt me,
Declare farewell."
As the song continued, Davy leaned over and whispered to Mike, "Y'know, there's something about this tune that sounds very familiar, I just can't put my finger on it."
"I don't like it." Micky seethed, "We're every bit as good as they are, what have they got that we haven't got?"
"They're girls, we're guys, there's a difference." Mike pointed out.
"Yeah, maybe the manager just wanted a feminine approach," Peter mused. "They'll probably wear off in a couple days, you'll see. We'll be back."
"Yeah, they can't have more than two or three songs," Davy added, "Since when did you ever hear of girls writing their own songs? It'll never last."
~*~
After the last tone faded away, the Monkees headed backstage to confront the Leemurs. As the girls saw them coming, they smiled.
Mike marched right up to Michelle and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Mike Nesmith."
"Why, hello, Mike Nesmith," the guitarist said, extending her hand, "Michelle Nesbit."
Mike shook her hand, then stepped back, "Now, we didn't come back here on friendly terms," the four girls looked shocked at this. "We're the Monkees, and we're here to tell you that, uh, that..."
Micky jumped in, pointing his finger at the Leemur's drummer, "That this is our discotheque and you have no right to just barge in here and take our job and, and..."
Davy looked at the percussionist and picked up the reprimand, "And we think you should just go back to where you came from, and let us play here."
Realizing he didn't get a turn, Peter glared at Petra, "So there!"
"Well, boys," Michelle remained calm, "The manager asked us to play after our audition this afternoon, and play we shall. He's booked us for the next month." She picked up her guitar case and turned toward the door. "So, if you have nothing more to say, we'll be on our way." She waltzed out of the room, followed by Petra and Daisy carrying their instruments and Nikki wheeling her drums on a dolly. The Monkees watched them leave, and, through the glass on the door, watched them load their instruments into a purple station wagon convertible with the words 'The Leemurs' emblazoned on the side.
Fuming, the Monkees went out the front door and hopped into their own Monkeemobile. Mike started the engine and they roared away. A few minutes later, Peter happened to look over his shoulder, then turned back quickly.
"What's the matter?" Davy asked.
"Nothing, it's just that those Leemur girls are right behind us."
As they turned onto Beechwood, Peter noticed that the purple Leemurmobile was still in back of them. "Davy," he said, "what should we do? They're still following us!"
"Cool it, man," Davy said, "They probably just have to take this road to get to their house. See," he said as they pulled into the driveway of 1334 and the purple station wagon continued, "Nothing to worry about." As he finished saying this, the violet car drove into the driveway of 1336, right next door. "I retract that," he pronounced, rolling his eyes.
"You don't suppose..." Peter asked, climbing out of his car.
"They couldn't be!" Davy exclaimed, as the Leemurs exited their own automobile and strolled across the lawn to 1334.
"Well, well, well," Michelle stated, "Look who we moved in next to. Hello neighbors."
"Oh, Hi Michelle." Mike said. "So...you four are right next door to us I see."
"Yeah, that nice man rented it out to us." Petra replied.
"Nice man?" Peter said, "What was his name?"
"It began with a B." Petra replied.
"Was it 'Babbitt'?" Davy asked.
"Yeah, that was it!" Daisy replied.
"He was very nice to us," Nikki added, "And said we only had to pay half-rent this month since we moved in late."
"I can't believe that!" Micky retorted.
"Believe it, fuzzy." Nikki said with a smirk, then looked at her friends. "C'mon, let's go inside."
"We'll see you later, Monkees." Michelle said as she walked away to their house.
"Yeah, much later." Mike said under his breath. Louder he told his band mates, "Let's go inside."
The Monkees sat down dejectedly in their living room. It was bad enough those girls had taken their jobs, now they were living right next door to them!
"This is unbelievable!" Mike said angrily.
"Yeah, especially the part about Babbit being so nice." Peter said.
"Wait until they fall behind with the rent." Micky said smugly, "Then they'll see how nice Babbit is to them."
"If they have a job..." Davy said.
"...our job..." Mike cut in.
"They won't have to worry about the rent." Davy finished.
"Terrific." Micky said sourly.
After several seconds, Mike stood up.
"Well, let's rehearse. Tomorrow, I'll try and line up another gig for us."
The others agreed and went over to the bandstand. They played the song 'She' and was about to start another song, when they heard music from next door.
"It's the Leemurs." Peter said. "They're rehearsing too."
"Do they have to do it at the same time we are?" Micky asked.
The Monkees listened to the music playing next door.
"He...he told me that he had affection for me and like a simpleton I listened to him." Nikki sang.
"That song sounds familiar." Peter said.
The others nodded and listened to their rivals play. When they stopped, the Monkees looked at each other.
"I have an idea." Mike said, looking deep in thought.
"What is it?" Davy asked.
"They seem to be doing everything we do. So...let's go out onto the beach." Mike replied.
The Monkees came down the back steps, walked onto the beach..., and came across the Leemurs doing the same. The girl group walked over to the Monkees.
"Looks like we meet again." Michelle said.
Mike started in, "Why do you guys do everything we do?"
Daisy crossed her arms, realized Davy was doing the same, and dropped them to her sides, "We do not!"
"Why do your songs sound so much like ours?" Davy questioned.
Nikki butted in, "Did you ever think that maybe your songs sound like ours?"
"But we wrote those songs!" Micky insisted.
"We wrote ours, too!" Petra argued.
"But, but," Peter searched for another argument, "But we were here first, and you took our job!"
Michelle looked from Peter to Mike and said, "But we're here now, and you're just gonna have to live with it."
Mike turned to his group, and said, as well as he could, "Well, it's not bothering me. We didn't need that gig. There's many many discotheques out there, we can get a job at any one of them, right?"
"Right!" the other three chorused.
"Wrong," Daisy said, and the Monkees looked at her. "We've gotten phone calls from all the discotheques around here, and we've been booked at all of them."
"But you can't possibly play at every discotheque every night!" Davy argued.
Nikki smiled sweetly, "If it's too hard for us, we'll let you know, but I think we can handle ourselves."
It took all Micky's self-control to refrain from smacking Nikki in the face, but he restrained himself, and merely said, "Could you please just tell us where you came from, and why you're so much like us! Your names our like ours, Michelle Nesbit, Daisy Jonas, Petra Torch and Nikki Dolette, your songs sound like someone just took a thesaurus to ours, and you do do everything we do!"
Nikki looked at Micky. "It's a long story, let's go for a walk and we'll tell you guys."
The Monkees looked at each other then at the Leemurs.
"Ok, why not?" Mike said.
The two groups then headed down the beach.

What the groups didn't know was that there was a small pleasure craft anchored about a mile away from shore. It wasn't an ordinary craft, it was filled with all sorts of electronic equipment. Standing at the rail, was a redheaded middle-aged man with a weird-looking pair of binoculars was none other than Wizard Glick.
"Oh yes, yes yes." He giggled. "My plan is working perfectly!" He lowered the binoculars. "Those girls are doing their jobs quite well."
"Yes, they are boss." One of his lackey said,
"Quiet, dum dum. I'm gloating." Glick said. "Those Monkees left enough DNA for me the last time we met so I could make those girl clones with my opposite-clone machine. Now they will fall in love with them and break their hearts! HAHAHA!"
On the beach, the Monkees and the Leemurs broke off into four pairs...

Glick laughed as the couples walked away.
"Oh, yes, this is quite good." He snickered, "First my girls will take their jobs, and now they'll take their hearts. When they get through with those meddling Monkees, they won't know which way is up!"
Mike walked away with Michelle, Peter with Petra, Davy with Daisy and Micky with Nikki. Peter and Petra walked one way down the beach, while Micky and Nikki walked in the opposite direction. Mike and Michelle climbed onto some rocks while Davy and Daisy sat down on the sand.
"Why don't you tell me about yourself first?" Michelle asked Mike.
"Not much to say, really." Mike shrugged, "I was raised in Texas by my Mom; my Dad took off when I was two. When I turned eighteen I decided to try my luck as a musician in California."
"I was born in Connecticut." Peter was telling Petra when she asked him the same question Michelle asked Mike. "My Dad wanted me to be a teacher like him, but I wanted to be a musician, so I came out here to play."
"I was practically raised by my grandfather in England." Davy told Daisy when she too asked the same question of him. "I always loved the stage, so I came here to find work."
"I'm from L.A." Micky told Nikki, "I always loved to drum, but my Mom wanted me to be an architect, so I moved out and made my way here." He smiled at her. "So, what about you?"
"I'm from Sacramento." Nikki told him, "I've always loved to drum too, but nobody took a female drummer seriously and when I came here I met the others and we formed the Leemurs."
"Nobody took a woman guitarist seriously in Sacramento." Michelle was telling Mike, "They thought I was only good as a backup singer, so I came here to try my luck."
"My Mom in Sacramento wanted me to be a teacher too." Petra was telling Davy, brushing her hand over his, "But I wanted to be a musician and so I came here."
"My grandfather was from England too." Daisy told Davy as she looked out over the ocean, "He came to Sacramento for his health. He encouraged me to follow my dream, wherever it took me."
"Dreams can take you far." Davy admitted, getting closer to Daisy.
Daisy nodded. "I hope our dream of an all-girl group can lead us to success." She replied, getting closer to Davy.
"Someday the world will come around to the idea of an all-girl group." Nikki was telling Micky.
"It might if you keep trampling down on all the boy groups." Micky replied.
"We're trying to succeed as a group." Nikki said, "We're going to do whatever it takes." She leaned over and kissed Micky.

A little while later, the four couples met up again and walked hand-in-hand back to their respective pads. After saying good night, the two groups parted ways. Inside the Monkees' pad, the guys sat down in the living room, discussing what had gone on.
"Michelle doesn't seem too bad." Mike said to the others, "She came from Sacramento and is trying to make it with the band, just like we are."
"Petra's from Sacramento." Peter said.
"So's Nikki." Micky said, looking at Peter.
"Daisy is from there too." Davy replied, "How odd that they're all from the same place. She didn't mention that the others were from the same city as her."
"Neither did Michelle." Mike said. "She also said nobody took her seriously so she came here to make a living."
"Nikki said the same thing about being a female drummer." Micky replied, starting to sound suspicious.
"Petra told me her Mom wanted her to be a teacher, like my Dad wanted me to be one, so she came here to be a guitarist."
"All their stories sound the same." Mike said.
"You think they're handing us lines?" Micky asked.
"I don't know." Davy said, "But Daisy is a good kisser."
"So is Michelle." Mike said.
"And Nikki." Micky said.
"And Petra..." Peter finished. "We were all kissed by them?"
"Yeah, and they seemed a lot nicer separately than when they were confronting us together." Mike said. "Something isn't right here."
"We know that, but what?" Micky asked.

Back at the Leemurs' pad, the four girls were also sitting in their living room, but they were watching the TV. It wasn't a program they were looking at, but their master, Wizard Glick.
"So it seems everything is falling into place." Glick cackled.
"Yes, Wizard Glick." Michelle said with an evil smile, "They fell for our story hook, line and sinker."
"Good, good." Glick laughed, "Keep up the good work."
"Any further orders?" Nikki asked.
"No, just continue as you are. Take their jobs from them, I've given you the ability to play just as well as they, and when they protest, work your feminine charms on the boys. When they are madly in love with you...you will dump them, preferably in public! HAHAHA!"
"It will be done, Wizard Glick." Petra said.
The TV set went black as Glick broke the connection.
The next morning found the three Monkees eating breakfast in the living room while watching TV. Mike was bored about the troubles of an orphaned boy growing up in the circus, so he went up to change the channel.
"Hey!" Micky protested, "Circus Boy is my favourite show!"
"Yeah, well, we've seen this episode three times now. Let's see what else is on." He flipped the dial through the channels, and suddenly hit channel 55.
"We don't get a channel 55!" Davy exclaimed, "It's not even on the dial!"
"Wait," Peter noticed, looking at the TV, "Something looks familiar about that house..."
Indeed, it did look familiar. It looked like a much more well kept version of their pad's living room, with a bandstand in the background.
"This is really weird." Mike said, sitting back in his chair, "Let's see what happens."
After a few moments, a girl walked onto the screen. She was wearing puppy-print pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Her hair was dark and curly and she looked suspiciously like...
"Hey! That's Nikki!" Micky exclaimed as she came closer, realized her TV was on, and reached over, turning the dial to off. The Monkees TV flipped back to Circus Boy, just in time for the end credits. "Wait, where'd she go?" Micky got up and examined the TV.
"I'm not sure, shotgun," Mike said, "but something fishy's going on here. I don't think we should see those girls anymore. Something's just not right here. Why would their living room be on television?"
"Maybe they were trying to contact us?" Davy suggested.
"I don't think so," Mike countered. "If they wanted to contact us, they could come over here, or call us on the phone. Anyway, I don't want any of us going over there. It's just too weird. I don't care if they're nice, we just can't be too careful, right?"
"Right!" chorused the reply.

The morning passed uneventfully. Peter did a bit of house cleaning, Micky tried an experiment to make yellow flowers red, Mike worked on a song he was writing, and Davy was putting his phone numbers from his little black book into a slightly larger little black book, to make room for any other girls he might meet. After lunch, however, they found themselves gathered around the television once more.
After one program finished, Davy piped up, "Well, I'm going for a walk on the beach. All of this TV watching is giving me a headache and I need some fresh air."
With that, he got up and went out the back door. What the other three didn't know, however, was that he walked around to the front of house number 1336 and rang the doorbell. Daisy answered.
"'Ello, luv!" Davy said, taking her by the arm. "You wanna go with me for a stroll on the beach, and then maybe dinner?"
"Of course," she answered, looking deep into his eyes. "Of course I want to go with you!"
Back in the pad, Micky was trying to come up with an excuse to get out of the house, so he could go see Nikki. When a commercial came on, he jumped up. "Oh! I forgot! Poor Mrs. Purdy!"
He started heading toward the door, when Mike stopped him with, "Why poor Mrs. Purdy?"
"Oh! I totally forgot! I told her I'd take her dog for a walk today! He's probably jumping up the walls and driving her crazy! I've got to go right now!"
"But I thought you hated that dog!" Mike stated, but the door was already shut, and Micky was already going to their other next-door neighbor's to see if Nikki was free.
Mike soon lost interest in the show they were watching, as he was also hatching a plan. Making show of an enormous yawn, he said, sleepily, "I think I'm gonna go up and lie down. This summer heat is really getting to me."
"Have fun, Mike." Peter wasn't paying attention to what Mike was telling him, as he was engrossed in the antics of Little Audrey.
Mike ran up the stairs and shut the door loudly before realizing his problem. How could he get out to go see Michelle if he was on the second floor? Quickly assessing the situation, he noticed a large tree outside the window. If he could just grab it... He swung himself into the tree and scurried down before heading to the Leemur's pad.
When Little Audrey finished, Peter turned the TV off, then realizing he was all alone; he hurried over to see if Petra was free for the evening.

A few minutes after Davy and Daisy had left, Micky came over to 1336 Beechwood and knocked on the door. Nikki answered it.
"Hi, Nikki!" Micky said.
"Hi, Micky!" Nikki replied, "What brings you here?"
"Would you like to go for a walk in the park and then maybe dinner?"
"I'd love to." Nikki said. She grabbed her purse and the two left the house.
A few minutes after that, Mike came to number 1336 and knocked on the door. This time, Michelle answered.
"Hello, Mike." Michelle smiled. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi, Michelle." Mike said, removing his hat. "I'd like to know if you'd join me for a walk around the neighborhood and then maybe dinner?"
"That's sounds groovy!" Michelle replied, taking his arm. She shut the door and the two of them walked off.
Peter ran over to the Leemurs' pad a few minutes later. He knocked on the door, and Petra answered.
"Oh hello, Peter." She said, "Nice to see you again."
"Yes, it is nice to see you, Petra." Peter replied, "I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk and then maybe dinner?"
"Oh, that sound very nice!" Petra said, "Let me freshen up and we can be off. Come inside."
"Thanks, Petra." Peter said, walking inside. He noticed the living room was exactly like what they had seen on that mysterious channel 55. A few minutes later, Petra came back downstairs wearing a new set of clothes, and the two went for their walk.

Davy and Daisy walked for a long time on the beach. Despite their earlier differences, they found they were enjoying each other’s company. Daisy could see that Davy was falling in love with her, just as it was planned. She took Davy's hand.
"I'm kinda hungry." She said, "Let's go to that dinner you promised."
"Sure, luv." Davy said, then remembered he had lied about where he had been going. He couldn't let the others know about his relationship with Daisy! "I know the best place!"
"Where?" Daisy asked.
"It's called the 'Out of the Way place nobody ever goes to'." Davy said, "The Southside branch. It's nice and private."
"Daisy smiled. "Let's go!"

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" Nikki asked Micky as they sat on a park bench.
Micky suddenly remembered he lied about where he was going. He couldn't let the others know about him and Nikki!
"Why don't we go to the "Out of the Way place nobody ever goes to'." Micky said quickly. "The southside branch isn't far from here."
"Well, then let's go!" Nikki said, getting up and pulling Micky to his feet. They walked away.

"What's this restaurant called again, Mike?" Michelle asked as they walked along the city streets.
"The Out of the way place nobody ever goes to, southside branch'." Mike replied, "It's a real private place, but very nice." He added. Mike had taken Michelle to this place so that the others wouldn't know about his relationship with Michelle, especially after he had told them to stay away from the Leemurs' place!
Coming up to the restaurant, Mike opened the door and quickly ushered Michelle inside.

"It's an odd name for a restaurant." Petra remarked when Peter told her the name of the place they were going for dinner.
"Yeah, well, it is kinda out of the way, but it is a nice private place." Peter answered. He too had taken Petra over to the Out of the Way place where nobody ever goes, southside branch so his band mates wouldn't know about him and Petra. He was really starting to like her, even though there were some weird things about her and her friends. Putting those thoughts aside, Peter opened the restaurant door and let Petra inside.

Petra noticed the three other bead-covered booths near each other. It looked like her clone-sisters were with the other Monkees. So they had all decided to come to the same restaurant! She hid a smile as she and Peter took their seats in another enclosed booth near the others. Wizard Glick's plan was coming along perfectly! Still, as Petra looked across the booth at Peter, she felt a twinge inside her, something that made her feel a little uncomfortable. As a clone programmed by Glick on how to feel, she had never felt like this before. If she had known what she was feeling, she would've called it regret.
The waiter came by and handed them menus. Other waiters came along and gave menus to the occupants of the other secluded booths.
"Good evening." The waiter told Peter and Petra, "What may I get you to drink?"
"Root beer." Peter and Petra said together, then smiled at each other.
"Very good." The waiter said and walked away.

After the waiter had taken Davy and Daisy's orders for tea, Daisy took a peek out of the beaded curtain and noticed her three companions doing the same. They winked at each other and tucked their heads back inside the booth.
"You're right, Davy." Daisy said, this is a real nice place."
"Yeah, nice and private." Davy replied. "I was here one other time. It was when I had to impersonate a girl so the Monkees could enter a mixed group contest."
"Sounds interesting." Daisy giggled.
"You don't the half of it." Davy continued, "Even though it was secluded, I ended up meeting a girl who was disguising herself as a boy so her group could enter the contest as well. We both didn't want to be stuck at home on a Saturday night, so we ended up here."
"What happened?" Daisy asked.
"We discovered each others identities and our groups joined forces and won the contest." Davy answered. "She was a nice girl, too bad things didn't work out for us."
"That's too bad." Daisy replied.
The waiter came with their teas. After he left, Davy looked over at Daisy once again.
"Yeah, I guess a relationship built on lies can't last long." He said quietly.
Daisy was in the middle of taking a drink of her tea when Davy said that. She started to cough.
"Are you ok?" Davy asked, concerned.
"I'm...*cough*...fine, Davy." Daisy lied. Why did Davy's comment affect her? She wondered, was she developing feelings for Davy? This was something she hadn't planned on. She had been programmed to pretend to fall in love, not really do so.

Micky and Nikki were drinking their sodas when they heard Daisy coughing in the next booth. Fortunately, only Nikki recognized Daisy's cough.
"Sounds like something went down the wrong pipe." Micky remarked.
"Wrong pipe?" Nikki repeated.
"Yeah, y'know, the wind pipe?" Micky asked.
"Oh, ok, now I get it." Nikki answered. "My anatomy is structured to be like a human woman."
The strange look on Micky's face made Nikki realize she had said a little too much. She quickly took Micky's hand.
"I meant that my throat is like the throats of other women." She said with a slight laugh, hoping and not hoping Micky would buy her explanation. Why was she secretly hoping he'd find out her true nature?
"I should hope so." Micky said with a smile, hiding the odd feeling he had about Nikki. She was already looking at her menu.
"Oh, they have lasagna here!" She said happily, "I think I'll order that."
"Me too." Micky replied, "That's my favorite."
"Mine too." Nikki said, as the waiter came over for their orders.

"I didn't know you liked Texas Chili." Mike said to Michelle as the waiter left after taking their orders.
"Oh yeah, the spicier the better!" Michelle smiled as she took a sip of her lemonade.
Mike took a sip of his lemonade too and looked over at his date. It was uncanny how much she resembled him, and Mike began to wonder if it wasn't possible that he and she might be related. Mike had no idea how close to right he was.
Michelle looked at Mike too. She could tell he was no fool and had begun to wonder about all the similarities between him and his friends and the Leemurs. It was time to put the next part of Wizard Glick's plan in motion, and yet...she hesitated. Michelle had begun to wonder herself why she was supposed to do this, was she created just to hurt this man? Mike saw the look on her face and took her hand.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Oh, I need to go powder my nose." Michelle smiled. "I'll be right back." She pushed the beaded curtain away and left the booth.

Michelle left the booth and at almost the same time, her clone-sisters did the same. Without a word, the four of them went into the ladies room. Once there, they re-applied their lipstick and talked.
"How's it going, ladies?" Michelle asked.
"Very well." Nikki said, "But we better do the next part now. I think Micky is getting suspicious."
"Yeah..." Daisy said quietly. The others noticed this.
"What's wrong, Daisy?" Petra asked.
Daisy finished applying her lipstick before answering.
"I really can't tell you." She said, "I'm feeling like something is interfering with my programming."
"In what way?" Michelle asked.
"Something inside me doesn't want to hurt Davy." She said, looking at the floor, then up at the others. "Perhaps I should go back to Wizard Glick..."
"He'll put you back in a test tube." Nikki said, "We spent too much time in those things already."
"Yeah, and besides." Petra said, "We have our orders. Still...I don't really want to hurt Peter either."
"You too?" Michelle asked. "Well... we have to do what Glick says. He created us."
The others nodded.

Back at the booths, the guys were wondering where their dates went. One at a time, Davy, Micky, Mike and Peter stuck their heads out from behind the beads to see where the girls had gone. Fortunately, as one Monkee stuck his head out, another put his back inside, so they didn't see each other.
After a few more minutes, Nikki walked over to the bead-covered booths-but purposely went into the wrong one! Peter was quite surprised to see Nikki sitting across from him.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Nikki said, "I'm in the wrong...hey aren't you Peter?"
"Yeah, I am." Peter said, "You're Nikki, aren't you? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm with Micky." Nikki said innocently, "He and I went for a walk and we came here for some privacy."
"Micky's here?" Peter asked.
About the same time, Petra came over and went into Micky's booth. Micky was startled to see her.
"Petra?"
"Oh hi, Micky." Petra said, "I'm supposed to be in the booth with Peter. All these booths look alike."
"Peter's here?" Micky asked, getting scared.
"Yeah, we went for a walk and he took me here for dinner."
Michelle climbed into Davy's booth.
"Sorry I took so long, Mike..." She looked at Davy. "Oops! You're not Mike."
"I should say not, Michelle." Davy replied. "You're here with Mike?"
"Yeah, we went for a walk and came here for dinner.”

"Why that double-crosser..."
"What's the matter?" Michelle asked.
"Oh, he...he told us...told us..." Davy stumbled, realizing he said too much.
"Told you not to talk to us?" Michele asked.
"Well, you girls have taken our gigs from us..." Davy began.
"Yet he took me out." Michelle said, pretending to get angry.
At the same time, Daisy got into Mike's booth.
"Daisy, what are you doing here?" Mike asked, shocked.
"Oh, Mike!" Daisy exclaimed, "I'm sorry. I thought this was Davy's booth."
"Davy's here?" Mike said, getting nervous.
"Yes, we went for a walk and came here to eat dinner." Daisy answered.
"Oh my..." Mike said, wiping his hand down his face.
"What's wrong?" Daisy asked.
"Nothing, I gotta leave." Mike said, starting to climb out of the booth. He was stopped by an angry Michelle who was climbing into the booth.
"Going somewhere, Mike?"
"Oh hi, Michelle." Mike said, "I can explain..."
"Davy explained it to me." Michelle cut in. "You told your band mates not to associate with us, yet you asked me out."
"Not associate with us?" Daisy asked, pretending to be insulted.
"It's not like that, Daisy." Mike said quickly.
"Perhaps you should tell us then, Mike." Davy said as he climbed into the booth as well.
Petra started to leave Micky's booth.
"Petra..." Micky said.
"Yeah, Micky?"
"Um, don't tell Peter I'm here, ok?"
"Why not?" Petra asked.
"Well...it's a long story." Micky said.
"Shorten it." Petra replied, sitting down again.
"Mike said what?" Nikki said to Peter, pretending to be shocked.
"We really don't know you girls and..."
"But it's ok to take us out to dinner!" Nikki snapped and left the booth. Peter followed her.
"Wait Nikki!"
Nikki stormed back over to Micky's booth. Pulling back the beaded curtain, she looked at Micky and Petra.
"Micky!" Nikki cried, "You two-timer! How could you?"
"It's not what you think, Nikki." Micky said quickly, then noticed Peter standing behind her. "What are you doing with Peter?"
"What are doing with Petra?" Nikki said angrily.
"Calm down, Nikki." Petra said, "I climbed into the wrong booth, that's all. But Micky told me something interesting."
"What?" Nikki and Peter said together.
"Mike told his buddies not to date us." She replied.
"Is that true?" Nikki asked Peter.
"Yeah, but..." Peter began.
Just then, Mike, Michelle, Davy and Daisy came out of their booth. They quickly saw Micky, Peter, Nikki and Petra and walked over.
"Oh, how nice, a reunion." Michelle said.
"Yeah, fancy meeting you fellas here." Davy said slowly, looking over at Mike.
"I guess you ladies heard that we're not supposed to be with them." Michelle asked.
Michelle's band mates nodded.
"Trying to charm us, so we'll give you some gigs, right?" Nikki asked.
"No, Nikki." Micky said, "I really like you."
The other Monkees said the same thing to their girls too.
"But there are too many weird things going on here." Mike protested, "That's why we gotta be careful."
"We know when we've been tricked." Michelle said angrily. "Let's go back to our pad, ladies."
"But girls..." Davy said.
Daisy, Nikki, Petra and Michelle turned and slapped Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike in the face and stormed out of the restaurant. By now, the whole restaurant was watching what was going on. Micky, Peter and Davy rounded on Mike.
"Nice going, Mike." Micky snarled, "You hypocrite!"
"Yeah, telling us not to date those girls and going on a date with Michelle!" Peter said angrily.
"But fellas..." Mike began.
"Save it for someone who cares, Mike." Davy said as walked out of the restaurant. The headwaiter walked over to them.
"Wait! Who's going to pay for the food?"
"Send it back." Davy said.
"But what about..."
By now, the guys had gone out onto the street and began to walk back to the pad. Everyone was angry with Mike and didn't say a word to him.

Back at the Leemur's pad, the girls gathered around the TV once more. The smiling face of their master shown back at them.
"Excellent, excellent!" Glick shouted gleefully at the girls report. "Now, with all the bad feelings, it's only a matter of time before there are no more Monkees! HAHAHA!"

Since it was dark when they reached their pad, the Monkees decided to head to bed, though they were still fuming at Mike and, a little, at each other. Davy and Peter went right into their downstairs bedroom, and Micky and Mike instinctively headed upstairs. When they reached the door, however, Micky blocked the way.
"Come on, Mick!" Mike protested, "Let me in, I'm tired."
"There's no way I can sleep in the same room as a double-crosser."
"Double-crosser? How about a liar?" Mike fumed. "Whatever happened to Poor Mrs. Purdy's dog? Nice excuse!"
"You calling me a liar?" Micky questioned. "Well you're a two-faced son of---"
He was cut off as Mike shoved him aside, entered the bedroom, and slammed the door. Micky heard the lock slide shut, and Mike's voice came through, "I don't need to take your insults! If you hate me so much you can just get out of here!"
Micky had never been this mad at one of his roommates, or, for that matter, anyone else. He shouted out at the closed door, "Alright then! I'm out of here!" He turned on his heel and trotted down the stairs. Grabbing some change off the countertop, he headed toward the door. After hailing a taxi, he climbed in and sped off into the night.

Over at the Leemur’s pad, Nikki couldn't sleep. There was some satisfaction in having defeated the Monkees, and thus completing their life's mission, but she felt really terrible about having hurt Micky. What she felt was regret, though she didn't know that. Regret for breaking up a group of really cool guys that they could have gotten to know better. But maybe it wasn't too late... maybe she could still do something about it.

The next morning, over at the Monkees' pad, found Peter in the kitchen, fixing breakfast. Mike strolled down the stairs as Davy came out of the downstairs bathroom, freshly showered and dressed. He took one look at Mike and remembered all that happened the night before, though he didn't know about the fight with Micky.
Peter brought the pancakes to the table and, as he was more forgiving than the others, asked Mike to wake Micky for breakfast.
"Micky's not gonna have any breakfast," was Mike's sour reply.
"Why not?" Davy asked.
"Micky left the group last night." Mike answered, nonchalantly.
"WHAT? WHY?" Davy and Peter were shocked.
"He got mad at me and said he was out of here. I guess he's gone. Oh well, his loss."
"How could you just let him leave like that?" Davy questioned. "He's part of our group! A group that seems to be falling apart at the seams, but he was still part of it. Besides that, he had all the reasons in the world to leave after what you did to us last night!"
"What I did to you? If I remember right, I wasn't the only one who went out with those girls! And, if I remember right, you lied about going for a walk on the beach!"
"I did go for a walk on the beach!" Davy retorted, "I just had someone else with me!"
"Please stop fighting!" Peter pleaded.
"Cut out, Peter!" Mike shouted back.
"Now you're yelling at Peter!" Davy cried. "I think YOU should leave!"
"Me? No way! This is my house, and I'm not leaving!"
"YOUR house?" Davy said sarcastically, "Well, I guess it is now, cuz I'm out of here!" With that, he headed out, slamming the front door behind him.

Micky somberly stirred his coffee as his mother washed up the breakfast dishes. After his fight with Mike, Micky had gone over to his Mom's house and she let him stay the night. Now it was morning, and Micky had no idea what to do next.
"Maybe you should apologize to Mike, dear." His Mom said as she put away the last dish. "You two have been friends for many years and to have your friendship broken up by a girl, well..."
"I dunno, Mom." Micky said quietly. "Everything has been going wrong since those girls showed up. They took our gigs and made us distrustful of each other."
Micky's Mom sat down next to him and put her hand on his.
"You and Mike, in fact, all four of you boys have been through so much." She said, "Are you going to throw all that away? Did you four break up when Davy was almost taken back to England by his grandfather?"
Micky shook his head.
"How about when Peter was kidnapped by a mad scientist?"
"No, we didn't." Micky replied. "But we almost did when we all fell for the same girl in the Laundromat."
"What kept you together?"
Micky paused. "I guess because we really are good friends."
"Deep down you boys care for each other, don't you?" Micky's Mom said. "Something has come in the way of your friendship, but the four of you can and have worked it out."
Micky finally smiled. "You're right Mom." He said, "We can find other gigs, and not let those girls get to us."
Micky's Mom sat back. "Like you I do find it amazing that those girls are so much like you boys." She mused, "It's like you looked through a looking glass and found a female version of yourself."
"Maybe that's what's throwing us off." Micky replied. "It's weird and we're letting it get to us. But it won't bother me anymore."
"That's the spirit, dear." Micky's Mom replied, kissing his cheek. She looked up at the kitchen clock.
"Oh, the time!" She exclaimed, "I'll be late for my hair appointment!" She stood up. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like Micky, but I do hope you and Mike make up."
Micky stood up too. "So do I, Mom. Do you want me to walk you to the beauty shop?"
"No, I'll be alright. It's only a few blocks away." Mrs. Dolenz said as she left the kitchen to change. A minute later, she had her hat and gloves on and was walking to the front door.
"I'll see you later, Micky." She said, giving him another kiss. "Say hello to the others for me."
"Will do, Mom...and...thanks." Micky said.
His Mom smiled as she walked out of the house and closed the door. Micky went back into the kitchen and washed out his coffee cup. As he was putting it back in the cupboard, Micky heard a knock on the front door. He started to walk to the door when he hesitated. It might be Mike or the other Monkees. Then Micky remembered what his Mom had said and decided to confront Mike and get it over with. So, Micky quickly walked over and opened the front door.
To his surprise, it wasn't Mike or even Peter or Davy.
It was Nikki standing there.

Davy slowly walked along the sidewalk. His anger gone, he now thought about what had happened. How did things turn so bad so quickly? Mike and Micky hardly ever argued, now Micky was gone! Ever since those girls showed up, there have been problems. Not only did the Leemurs take their gigs, their source of income, but were now they had him and his friends fighting! Heaving a sigh, Davy stopped at a street corner, wondering what to do next. He need to talk to someone. He needed to talk to Micky. Suddenly, Davy had an idea. Perhaps he'd find someone to talk to and find Micky at the same time. Hailing a cab, Davy climbed inside.
"Where to, Mac?" The driver asked.
Davy gave the driver the address of Micky's Mom's house.

"Hi, Micky." Nikki said quietly.
"Oh hi, Nikki." Micky replied, "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Can I come in?"
"Sure." Micky said, stepping aside so Nikki could enter.
Nikki came inside and Micky shut the door and escorted her over to the living room couch. They sat down and looked at each other for several awkward moments before Nikki finally spoke.
"Your Mom has a nice place here." She said.
"Thanks. How did you know where I was?" Micky asked.
"I heard arguing last night and saw you leave your pad." She said, "I figured you might go and stay with a relative so I looked up your Mom's house in the phone book."
The last sentence was a lie. Nikki, as well as the other girls, had been programmed by Glick with all pertinent info about the Monkees' personal lives and so Nikki knew already where Micky's Mom lived.
Micky stared back at Nikki. She stared back at him.
"What's wrong?" Nikki asked.
"It's just that...there are too many similarities between us, Nikki. You and the other girls always seem to know what we're doing." Micky said, "Too many times for just coincidence."
Nikki looked down at her hands for a long time before answering. It was time to tell Micky the truth.
"You're right, Micky." She said at last. "It's not coincidence. That's why I came to talk to you. To let you know what's going on. I really do like you, Micky." She said, "The four of you are really cool guys and we weren't supposed to fall for you."
"Weren't 'supposed' to fall for us?" Micky asked, getting confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...I'm related to you...sort of." Nikki said, searching for the words to say.
"A cousin?" Micky asked.
"A clone." Nikki replied. "A clone that was created and programmed to be the opposite of you and do whatever I could to hurt you." She said, looking right at him.
"I don't understand at all." Micky said. "You're talking like someone in a science fiction book."
"It's true, Micky." Nikki replied, "Not science fiction. Me and Michelle and Petra and Daisy were created by our master to be just like you and your friends."
Micky stood up and began to walk around the living room.
"Of all the reasons for you girls being like you are, this is one I can't believe." He said, "You were created? By who?"
Suddenly, the door burst open and in the door stood none other than Michelle, Petra and Daisy!
"There you are, Nikki!" Michelle snarled, "We should've known you'd go soft and tell him everything!"
"What are you doing here?" Nikki demanded, standing up.
"That's what I'd like to know too!" Micky added.
"When you didn't come back for rehearsals, we figured you'd go over to see him." Petra said, "So we used our homing device to find you." She held up a small box.
"You're going back to Wizard Glick for re-programming, Nikki."
"Wizard Glick?!" Micky shouted. It all made sense now. The Monkees had defeated Glick when he tried to use the Frodis to brainwash the world. These girls had been created as a means of revenge!
Petra looked at Micky. "You're coming with us too!"
"Why?"
"You know too much." Michelle said. "We can't let you tell your friends the truth. The four of you have to be kept fighting."
"I'm not going back!" Nikki shouted, "I love Micky! I don't want to follow Glick's orders anymore!"
"You don't have a choice, my clone-sister." Daisy said.
"Run, Nikki!" Micky shouted, "I'll hold them off!"
But Michelle, Petra and Daisy just laughed. Michelle opened her purse and threw what looked like confetti at him. But the confetti expanded and wrapped itself around Micky's body, pinning his arms to his sides. Petra grabbed Nikki's arm and pushed the fingernail on Nikki's ring finger. She suddenly stiffened up.
"What did you do to her?" Micky asked, trying to free himself.
"Simply shut her down." Petra shrugged. "We better get going."
Michelle and Petra pulled Micky out the door while Daisy escorted Nikki to their waiting car.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Davy's cab was approaching Micky's Mom's house. The cab pulled around the corner in time for Davy to see Micky and Nikki being put into the Leemur's purple car.
"Cabbie, follow that car!" Davy demanded.
"But you said..."
"Follow them!" Davy yelled.
The cabbie shrugged and followed the Leemurmobile. The purple car quickly went to the docks where Davy saw the Leemurs take their captives over to a boat and get inside. Davy paid the cabbie and ran over to the dock. But he was too late. The boat took off and headed away. Davy watched it as it sailed to a short distance away along the shore.
"I gotta tell the others." Davy said to himself. He ran to a phone booth to call Mike.

Micky was hauled onto the yacht and tossed into a side room.
"We'll deal with you later!" Michelle said, slamming the door.
Realizing what was going to happen to Nikki if he didn't free himself soon, he frantically looked around to see if there was anything to free himself with. As Micky surveyed his surroundings, he soon realized he'd been placed in a bathroom. By scooting around, he soon got his feet under him and was able to stand up. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he realized that his bindings had been ripped in a spot not too far from his hand, leaving a hole. Micky was slowly able to maneuver his hand to the hole. He scratched crazily at the confetti bindings around the spot, but was unable to loose them or rip them further. He searched once again around the bathroom, but this time looking for something specific. As he peeked into the bathtub, his eyes locked on the object: a razor. Using kind of a hop-step, he made his way to the tub. It was only a matter of minutes later that he'd freed himself by cutting away the ties. He then turned his attention to the next task: the door lock.

Back at the pad, Mike and Peter sat around watching television again. Both wanted to forgive each other, as well as Davy and Micky, but both were also too proud to admit they were really wrong. Peter probably would have left by now, but where was he to go? And Mike would never leave, so Peter stayed on, hoping Davy and Micky would return soon.
The phone rang, pulling Peter from his thoughts and back to the world. Mike jumped up and answered it, "Hello, it's Mike."
Davy, in a phone booth not far from the dock, quickly apologized, "Mike, I'm sorry for what I said this morning, and I really need your help right now. I mean, Micky needs your help."
"What's the matter, shotgun?" Came Mike’s voice over the line, and Davy breathed easier. Mike was willing to forgive.
"Micky had gone to his Mom's house, and Nikki must have followed him there or something, and then the other Leemurs followed them and then they tied Micky up and Nikki was all stiff and they carted them away and took them on this yacht and..."
"Hold up! Tell us the details later. Right now, where are you?"
"Down by the docks, about two miles away."
"Peter and I will meet you at the gate in five minutes."
"Hurry, Mike," Davy urged, "I'm really worried this time."

Five minutes later, as planned, Mike and Peter roared up in the Monkeemobile. Not bothering to open the doors, the two of them hopped out and rushed over to Davy.
"Have you been keeping an eye on the boat?" Peter asked, having been filled in by Mike on what was going on.
"Yeah, it's really weird. It took off then stopped a bit from shore. You can see it... right over there." Davy pointed out the yellow boat just off the coast.
"What's with all the weird antennas sticking out of the top?" Mike asked
"I'm not positive, but I have an idea. I don't think those girls are alone. Look at the symbol on the side of the boat." Davy pointed again, and the others squinted to make it out.
"The Frodis Eye!" Peter exclaimed, and then he and Mike looked at Davy.
"Wizard Glick?" they asked.
"That's who I think it is," Davy replied. "I mean, we didn't get rid of him last time, we just freed the Frodis. He got away after that, and, though he promised to shape up, I guess he didn't."
"Well, if it is Wizard Glick," Mike began to worry, "Who knows what might happen to Micky in there! We've got to get on that yacht!"
"But how can we?" Peter asked, "We don't have a boat, or money to rent one. Besides, Glick would probably notice if we rode up to rescue Micky."
"What if we don't ride up?" Mike asked.
"What do you mean?" Peter wanted to know.
"The boat's not that far. We can easily swim there, and climb aboard. He'll never suspect it."
"Right," Davy agreed, "Let's go."

Back in the yacht, Micky assessed his situation. He'd freed himself from the confetti-type stuff, but there was still the locked door to consider. He once more examined the room, this time looking for another way out. True, there was a window, but it was one of those porthole types, that didn't open, and would be too small anyway. Micky searched the medicine cabinet and soon found a pair of tweezers. Approaching the door, he figured he could use the tweezers to pick the lock. However, when he finally actually looked at the lock, he realized that this door, like most bathrooms, locked from the inside, and he could just turn the handle for the lock to release.
"Well, that was dumb..." he thought, twisting the knob and releasing the door.
Once outside, he looked both directions before heading down the hallway, the route he'd noticed earlier that Daisy was taking Nikki along. He passed a few doors, but no sounds came from behind them, so he moved on to the end of the hallway. It soon opened up into a large room filled with electrical equipment. Micky peeked from behind the doorpost, but ducked back when he noticed Petra, Daisy, Michelle and Wizard Glick, along with a couple henchmen, discussing their plot. Nikki was nowhere to be seen. Scrunching as close to the wall as possible, Micky listened to their conversation.

"Quick, while the guard's not watching!" Mike whispered and jumped into the water. Davy followed suit, but just as Peter was about to jump, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw the guard standing behind him.
"Going somewhere?" the burly man asked, pointing to a sign which stated No Swimming. "No swimming off the dock!"
"Oh, but I wasn't going swimming," Peter lied, "I was trying to catch a frog, but he jumped in the water, so I guess I'll be leaving now."
"Yeah, you leave now," the guard said, and went on his way. Davy poked his head out from under the dock and motioned Peter to climb in the water.
"But that man told me to leave!" Peter insisted.
"Aw, come off it, big Pete!" Mike insisted, "get in the water."

"How long will it take before the machine is ready for reprogramming?" Michelle questioned Glick, somewhat annoyed with her master.
"Well," the wizard explained, "since this is unexpected, it will take longer, ‘cause I have to recalibrate the schonsift, reboot the underhefter, and refurbish the haticollar. Zeke!"
Micky heard one of the henchmen walk across the room, "Yes, sir?"
"Your Royal Wizardry," Glick corrected.
"What is it?" asked a second henchman.
"Not you, dum dum! How many times must I remind you, I'm the master!"
"Oh, right," the henchmen said, then the first asked, "What do you need?"
"Prepare for take-off. We have to get further out to sea for the full power to work!"
"Exactly how long will this take, though?" Michelle asked once more, this time biting her tongue to keep from screaming at Glick.
"Hmm..." the wizard mused, "It will be at least midnight before we are ready to put Nikki under the brain washing machine."
"Do we really have to reprogram her?" Daisy asked timidly. "I mean, we accomplished what we set out to do..."
"Accomplished what we set out to do?" Petra fumed, "If we don't stop Nikki and erase the memories of Micky, then she will get the Monkees back together! Our life's work will go to waste!"
Micky smiled, and wished Davy had been there to hear Daisy sticking up for Nikki. Maybe she wasn't as bad as Michelle and Petra.

After a short swim out to the boat, Mike, Davy and Peter found a small ladder and climbed onto the deck, dripping wet. Moments after they ascended to the deck, the yacht lurched and sent them sprawling.
"Not a moment too soon!" Davy exclaimed as the three righted themselves and looked around. "Let's find a way below deck so we can rescue Micky and Nikki!"

Micky decided he'd heard enough, and the catfight wasn't going to inform him of anything new, so he resolved to search for Nikki. Returning down the hallway, he tried every door he came to. The first opened to reveal a simple utility closet. "Not in there..." Micky said half-aloud, and moved on. The next two were locked, and the one after was the bathroom again. "Must be one of the locked doors," he conceded, and listened closely at each. Not hearing anything, he assumed Nikki to be asleep, or just not making any noise.
Returning to the utility closet, he soon found a set of screwdrivers, which ranged greatly in size. Selecting the smallest one, Micky revisited the first locked door and picked away at the lock. To his surprise and delight, the bolt soon gave way and he opened the door.
A peculiar sight met his eyes. Inside stood Nikki, or more, leaned Nikki, for she was still shut off. Her eyes, wide open, gazed glassily into space, her mouth expressionless. "Creepy..." Micky said, then remembered Petra doing something with Nikki's finger before she stiffened. Grabbing her right hand, Micky began poking and prodding each finger fruitlessly. "Must be the other hand," he decided, and was about to begin on the left hand when he heard footsteps approaching down the stairs. Rushing silently to the door, he eased it shut, hoping it didn't lock automatically. The footsteps passed the door, and Micky breathed again. Quickly he grabbed Nikki's left hand and pushed at all the fingers until, Oh joy! the ring nail gave way and the drummer's eyes focused.
"Micky?" she asked, then, "Where am I?"

Mike led the way as the three headed below deck and down the same hallway Micky had just come up. They didn't notice the second-to-last door easing shut as they passed, but they did notice one of the henchmen at the end of the hallway, blocking the doorway into the main room. Mike opened the last door in the hallway and they squished into the utility closet. The henchman, Zeke, heard the latch shut and turned around. Not able to see anything, he decided to check above deck in case the noise had come from up there.
"I think he's gone," Davy mentioned, and opened the door.
"Wait, don't do tha-" Mike began to warn Davy, but his voice was muffled by Peter's hair, so the percussionist didn't hear. Since they'd scrunched in so tight, when the door opened, they tumbled out amidst a jumble of mops, brooms, and other cleaning and repair supplies. Unable to not notice the commotion, Wizard Glick and the three Leemurs came to see what was happening, leaving the henchman at the controls.
Peter stood up to dust himself off just as Glick came through the doorway. Thinking fast, for once, Peter slammed the open utility room door in Glick's face, causing him to collapse on the floor.
The three Leemurs approached their Monkee counterparts, unsure of what exactly they were going to do. "Well," Michelle asked her clone sisters, "get them already!"
Leemur charged upon Monkee, Michelle versus Mike, Petra facing Peter, and Daisy with Davy.
Michelle grabbed a broom and held it out like a sword. "En garde," she said, before swooping it down on Mike's head. Mike, however, had grabbed a mop and keenly blocked the blow. The two of them headed down the hallway, Michelle advancing on Mike, who tried to block her strikes with some of his own.
Petra screamed and rushed at Peter, fingers clawing. Not knowing what else to do, Peter grabbed at the hands, and accidentally pushed in her ring fingernail. Petra stiffened up, her expression limped and her eyes glazed over.
Daisy and Davy circled one another menacingly. Although Davy was short, Daisy, as his clone, reached about the same height; and they were equally matched as fighting skills went, meaning they neither of them had any. Davy gazed deeply into his clone counterpart's eyes and attacked the only way he knew how. Rushing upon her, he swept her off her feet, planting an enormous kiss on her rosebud lips.

Micky quickly filled Nikki in on everything he'd done and seen, as well as telling her some background information on Wizard Glick.
"You mean he kept the poor Frodis captive, just to use its powers to take over the world?" she asked, only a little surprised.
"Yes, and besides that, this is the second time he's tried to get rid of us. We've got to get to shore so we can send him to jail," Micky replied.
"But how are we supposed to overtake him? With the two henchmen, himself, Michelle, Petra and Daisy, that makes six against two."
Micky quickly shushed Nikki as more footsteps, only one set this time, sounded down the hallway. "Okay, it's clear now," he said when they faded away. "Well, actually it may be only five against three. I have a feeling Daisy is more on your side than Wizard Glick's."
They heard a crash in the hallway, and listened to the pandemonium that followed. They heard Mike and Michelle (though they didn't know it was them) coming down the hallway, mop and broom clashing. It wasn't until Micky heard an "Aha!" from Mike - he'd obviously made a striking move - that he realized who was out there.
"Mike!" he cried, and ran for the door.
"Micky, wait!" Nikki called after him as Micky swung the door open.
What Micky saw shocked him. Mike had Michelle, now a ways down the hall, backed into the bathroom and was parrying right and left. Peter, standing next to a particularly rigid Petra, was waving his hand in front of her eyes, trying to capture her attention. And Davy, at the other end of the hall, was holding Daisy's hand and talking quietly to her, while she blushed every so often.
"Talk about your weird scene..." Nikki whispered in Micky's ear.
"Yeah, let's do something about it," Micky suggested, "You take Peter and Petra, I'll take Michelle and Mike. I think Davy and Daisy are getting along just fine."
"Right," the Leemur agreed, and headed to the left, while Micky went right.

When Micky approached the bathroom, he found Mike had cornered Michelle into the bathtub, and was holding his mop out dramatically.
"Drop your sword," he declared, and Michelle released her broom. Looking up and seeing Nikki she cried out. "Nikki, you traitor!"
Mike turned around and beheld the two curly-heads behind him. "Micky!" he exclaimed, "You're free!"
"No time for joyous reunions," Nikki rushed, "We've got to stop Wizard Glick."
"Not if I can stop you," Michelle called as she grabbed Mike from behind, shoving him down into the bathtub before stepping out herself.
"Michelle, don't!" Nikki pleaded. "Wizard Glick is a horrible man!"
Michelle stopped and looked questioningly at Nikki, "And what makes you say that?"
The drummers quickly told Michelle all about the Monkees' last encounter with the villain, and Michelle's face softened. "You mean he kept the poor Frodis captive, just to use its powers to take over the world?" she asked.
"That's what she said," Micky pointed to Nikki, "and yes, he did. Come on, though. We've got to stop him."
Mike eased himself from the tub, "We don't have much time before he wakes up, let's go."

The four dashed from the bathroom and down the hall to where Peter was still trying to arouse Petra. When he saw all four of them together, he assumed Micky and Mike were running from the Leemurs. He rattled the handle of the locked door next to him, trying to escape.
"Peter, it's okay," Micky called, and Peter stopped his futile endeavor.
"I don't know what happened to her!" he explained, "She came at me and I grabbed her hands and she just stiffened up," he firmed his own body as an example.
"Oh, not to worry," Michelle insisted, "just push her finger like so, and..."
As Michelle pushed Petra's ring finger, she came to life, still clawing and scratching. Michelle quickly grabbed her wrists and explained what was going on. Petra, who still liked Peter regardless of what their mission had been, readily agreed to help. To enlist the aid of Davy and Daisy was but the work of a moment.
Together once more, they turned their attentions back to the wizard. Horrified, they realized their nemesis was no longer on the floor where Peter had felled him.
"He can't have escaped down the hall," Daisy reasoned, "Davy and I were standing on this side of him all along. He must be hiding in the control room."
The eight entered the control room, but no Wizard Glick was to be found. "Come to think of it," Petra thought aloud, "His henchmen aren’t in here either."
They searched all around, but not hide nor hair of either villain showed itself. Finally, Micky looked up at the ceiling and cocked his head to one side. "What's that?" he pointed at a circle on the ceiling with a string hanging down.
Mike reached up and pulled at the string, then jumped quickly out of the way, as a ladder cascaded from the opening. Daylight streamed in from above.
"An escape hatch!" Michelle crowed, and began climbing the ladder.
The others followed, but Peter was confused. "But, we don't need to escape, there's no one else on this boat!"
"Oh, Peter," Micky sighed, and, grabbing the blonde's shirt, ushered him up the ladder.

When they got to the top, a depressing sight awaited them. Two men, one obviously Wizard Glick - they could tell by the hat - sped away on a mini speedboat which apparently had been tied to the yacht. Over the ocean breeze, a faint voice penetrated the Monkees' and Leemurs' ears.
"You may have defeated me this time, but I'll be back! I'll be back! Mwahahahaha...." the evil cackle faded into the distance as the two groups headed back below deck.

Two days later, the Monkees drove the Leemurs to the Los Angeles Airport. The girls had decided to move away from Malibu, so that Wizard Glick would not be able to find them and reprogram them for evil. Soon the four similar pairs stood facing each other in the airport, not wanting to say goodbye.
"After all we've been through," Mike began.
"We've only known each other for a few days, yet it seems like an eternity." Michelle insisted.
"Well, it would for you, you've known me practically all of your short life." Mike reminded Michelle, brushing a tear from her cheek.
"You saved me, Micky," Nikki was telling her drummer counterpart. "I'll never forget you for that. If not for you, I'd have been reprogrammed and living a life of evil."
"Aw, it was nothing. You were the first to tell the truth, and you love lasagna. Who'd have thought we had so much in common?" Micky laughed half-heartedly.
"You will write, won't you?" Davy was heartbroken.
"Yes, but we won't be able to give you our address, to keep Glick from being able to stalk us," she replied, depressed that she had to leave after just getting to know Davy really well.
"I guess this is goodbye, then, huh?" Peter asked Petra awkwardly.
"I'll never forget you, Peter," she leaned over and kissed the blonde. Peter blushed bright red, and the others laughed.
"Oh," Michelle added, "I forgot to tell you that we sold Glick's yacht. We decided to give you boys half the money after all the trouble we caused you."
"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Mike insisted, stubbornly, "'Sides, you'll need money to start fresh."
"Nonsense," Michelle, also stubborn, pressed the bills into Mike's hand. "Since we took your gigs, you don't have any money to pay the rent. I'd like to see Babbitt thrown off his game when you present him the rent for the next two months."
"Well, when you put it that way...." Mike agreed, "How can a guy resist?"
A voice came over the intercom, interrupting their goodbyes, "Now boarding flight number 547 to Cincinnati."
"Well," Nikki said, "That's us. Come on girls, we gotta go." After a goodbye kiss, the groups parted their ways. As the Monkees were turning to leave, Daisy came rushing back.
"I forgot to tell you, Davy, I'm working on a new song!"
"Yeah, what's it called?" Davy was curious.
"'In the Mirror'," came the reply, and she was off. Davy listened closely and heard the strains of a song whose tune sounded distinctly familiar.
"You summon me, then you dart for shelter,
I grasp out to grip ya' but it's simply a mirror image.
In the Mirror.
Now you've been gazing at your days in a looking glass,
It's the moment you begin observing stuff a slight tad sheerer than,
In the Mirror.
Allow me to smash in, boy.
I even now adore you, boy...."

THE END

Invasion of the Monkee Snatchers
By: Ginny and Lisa      Rated PG

It was a long, hot summer day in Malibu, California. The beach was crawling with teenagers and young adults who dared to step out into the inferno. The Monkees were among the crowd, seeking relief from their un-air-conditioned beach home. Even though they had opened up all the windows to the house, the lack of any kind of a breeze made the place unbearable.
The four boys splashed, ducked and wrestled each other under the water until Davy excused himself, claiming he needed to "freshen up!" The other three Monkees knew this meant there was a girl in sight that Davy was interested in, and he wanted to make sure his looks were still intact before asking her out.
Davy entered the stifling-hot beach house, checked himself out in the mirror a few times, then hurried into the downstairs bedroom to change his clothes. He was in the final process of pulling on his socks when he noticed a bulk under the covers of his roommate's bed. Curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled back the covers revealing Peter's journal.
Even as Davy picked up the book, he was telling himself that this was a personal item belonging to his best friend and that he shouldn't even consider opening the cover.
This isn't right! He thought to himself. I shouldn't be doing this.
The battle of right and wrong waged within him until he could no longer control himself.
He opened the book, and flipped the pages to the most recent entry.
7/27/1967
It's all coming together splendidly. The other three do not suspect a thing. Only a few more days, and my plan will be put into action.
Davy furrowed his brows in confusion. What was it that Peter did not want them to suspect? What "plan" could their simple-minded Peter possibly come up with?
He was about to read earlier entries when a voice from the doorway made him jump and quickly hid the book back under the covers.
"What do you think you're doing?" Peter snapped.
Davy looked up into the face of his long-time friend and what he saw made him inwardly shudder. No longer was there the sweet, gentle smile of his friend, but now an angry scowl that he had never before seen on Peter's face.
“I was...I was...” Davy fumbled for an answer.
“You were reading my journal weren’t you?” Peter demanded angrily.
Davy looked down at the cover and nodded his head.
“I’m sorry Peter.” Davy said.
Peter reached down and grabbed the book from under the covers.
“How much did you read?” He said, still angry.
“Just the last entry.”
“Then you know too much.” Peter replied. He opened a drawer and pulled out what looked like a pen with a bulb on the end. “I was going to take you last, but now...”
“What are you talking about?” Davy demanded, not liking the look on Peter’s face, nor the object in his hand.
Peter didn’t answer. He simply pushed a button on the side of the object and a pale blue light emerged from the tip. It hit Davy’s face and Davy knew no more.