Everyone ready to finish this story?

Mike: Yeah.

Peter: I am.

Micky: Ready.

Davy: Me, too.

(We open at the Halloween party at Micky's house. The Monkees, Emma, and Lauren sit around a table on the lanai. Emma wears an orange sweater, a brown skirt, brown shoes, orange kneesocks, her glasses, and carries a Scooby Doo stuffed animal and a magnifying glass.)

*Lauren wears a Supergirl costume.*

Emma: (Looks at Mike) Why wouldn't you go as Shaggy?

Mike: I ain't no dumb stoner!

Micky: Shaggy isn't a stoner!

Bob: Before this enlightening argument gets further, when did you boys finally get in?

Peter: About a half-hour ago.

Emma: I can't believe you guys really got your music back.

Mike: (Nods) Val's lookin' at it now. She told me she's gonna give it to her lawyers in the mornin', but she says it looks legit.

Peter: After all we went through, we'd better have gotten it back!

Emma: (Squeezes Mike's hand) How do you feel, honey? From what you guys say, you had quite a night!

Mike: I feel good. In fact, I feel great. I defeated Belavarg and reclaimed the one thing that's always meant somethin' to all of us.

Peter: I guess I'm still coming down from the adrenaline rush in the tower. I'm really wiped out.

Bert: How about you boys? Micky? Dave?

Micky: Tired, but happy.

Davy: Mike got our music rights back. I couldn't be happier.

Bob: How did you feel about that little trip through the woods?

Peter: At the time, I was really freaked out. Is it just me, or did that seem to last a lot longer than two hours?

Mike: Felt more like a week. Darn demons n' devils were playin' with our heads again.

Bert: Where's the other guys who were with you? Still at the hospital?

Mike: Last time we checked. They were still gettin' Slip checked out.

Micky: We came here. They went there.

Davy: *Nods* Slip really got the worst of it.

Mike: Must have been his turn to get picked on.

Emma: (Grins at Lauren) Must be.

Micky: I love it when it ISN'T my turn.

Lauren: *Innocent smile* What?

Bert: I hope they get back from the hospital soon. I like these new guys you have around. They're a blast to party with.

Emma: They'll probably be around until we get into something else.

Lauren: They're here to stay. Trust me.

*All five Bowery Boys come. Sach is telling Whitey and Butch about what happened with lots of hand movements. Slip and Chuck are behind them. Slip now has his arm in a real sling.*

Bert: Hi there, Boys. How was the hospital?

Mike: How's your arm?

Chuck: *Leads Slip over to the table and sits him down* Slip got a little angry at the hospital. The doc felt the only thing he could do was sedate him with pain medication. *shrugs* He was hurting pretty bad, which is why he was mad. Anyway, the medication hasn't worn off yet.

Slip: Am I sittin'? *looks down at the chair* I am.

Mike: He must be sedated. He ain't smackin' anyone.

Bert: So, Slip and Sach, how did you feel about your little trip through the forest tonight?

Sach: Well, it was a little scary. The Chief got hurt, but I had fun!

Slip: What forest?

Mike: The one we wandered around in tonight. How do you think you broke your arm? And don't say "hittin' Sach's hard head."

Slip: I broke my arm? *Pokes it; he winces* Yeah, I did.

Bert: Do you remember anything about the forest?

Slip: What forest?

Chuck: *Shrugs* I told you.

Bert: How about you, Sach? What was your favorite part of your little trip?

Sach: Closing the floor in the tower.

*Slip starts to wander around.*

Emma: Do you need anything, Slip?

Slip: No.

Chuck: *Sighs* I actually miss him yelling at us.

Mike: (He stands and nudges Slip's good shoulder) Hey turkey, what ants got in your pants?

Emma: Honey, that's not nice.

(The producers snicker.)

Mike: (Smirks down at Slip) Hey there, shorty. Need a drink or anythin'?

Bert: I thought you two were getting along better after you got out of the forest.

Mike: (Grins at the camera) Do you think I'm gonna miss this opportunity? I might never get to do this again!

*Slip just gives him a look.*

Peter: (Looks at Chuck) They must have given him some really strong sedatives if he's that gone.

Chuck: You'd understand if you saw him right before the doc said he had to put his shoulder back in place.

Peter: Considering how he behaved in the forest, I think I get your point.

Emma: You and I are going to have a talk after the party's over.

Sach: We missed out on the hospital.

Butch: They made us sit in the waiting room, just because we weren't family!

Chuck: You really didn't miss much.

Emma: Knowing Slip, all you missed was adding six new swear words to your vocabulary.

Mike: Wish I was there. I could use those.

(Emma smacks Mike on the arm.)

Micky: Mike, there aren't any you don't know.

Mike: (Grins at Slip) Hey Runt, want some apple cider? Or maybe you want to sit down and let Sach eat all the marshmallows off your hot chocolate, before he does anyway.

Emma: Miiikkkeee...

*Slip just tries to walk away, not really paying attention to Mike.*

Emma: (Gently takes Slip's hand and pulls him over to the table) Why don't you join your boys, before my husband says something he'll regret?

Mike: I haven't said anythin' I regret yet.

Bob: How did it feel to do that spooky graveyard scene? You've never done something like that before.

Mike: That was a good set. For once, I ain't ashamed to admit that I was really scared there.

Peter: I was just hoping we weren't going to end up IN the graveyard!

Chuck: I know Slip didn't want to, but Sach managed to talk him into it.

*Sach smiles, nodding.*

Mike: Yeah. (He pats Sach's shoulder) You done good in this story, boy.

Sach: Thanks.

Peter: I'm really proud of you, Sach. You were a huge help. You're much smarter than anyone gives you credit for...including yourself and your "Chief."

Sach: *Shrugs* I just did what I had to.

Mike: (Grins at Peter) You remind me a lot of someone I used to hang out with.

Peter: (Smiles) Yeah.

Bob: Mike, how do you feel about sharing "Chief" honors with Slip now?

Mike: I already share them with Pete. I guess I don't mind sharin' them with this gorilla, either. (Lightly smacks Slip's good shoulder.) If he behaves.

*Slip winces, then groans.*

Peter: (Raises an eyebrow - he heard that groan) How are you feeling now, Slip? Your aura isn't quite as confused.

Mike: It ain't? Aww, all the fun's over!

(Emma smacks Mike again.)

Slip: Sore. Really sore.

Mike: (Mutters to Micky) You wouldn't have anythin' to give him that would knock him out for the rest of this part, would ya?

Micky: Mike, I don't have a death wish.

Peter: Michael!

Mike: (Snaps his fingers) Darn.

Bert: Now that you're thinkin' somewhat straight, what was your favorite part of your little adventure in the woods, Slip?

Slip: Comin' out of it alive.

Mike: We know that feelin'. We're usually happy to come outta any of these little incidents alive.

Bob: How bad is your shoulder and arm anyway, Slip?

Slip: *Makes a face* Shoulder was separated. Arm's broke an' I got three bruised ribs.

Emma: I hope you're a fast healer. We're going to need you guys next month.

Slip: I'm still walkin'. I'll be there.

Bert: Slip, how do you feel about sharing the role of Chief with Mike during this adventure?

Slip: Fine. I ain't in charge of these guys. *motions to the Monkees*

Peter: But we'd probably listen to you anyway. You're a good leader, too. In fact, you and Mike have so much in common, it's almost scary.

Mike: (Chuckles) Yeah, I guess we do.

Slip: And we have the head-butting to prove it.

Mike: No kiddin'. (Sighs and turns to Slip) I guess I was bein' stubborn back there. I ain't used to sharin' the leader role with anyone 'sides Pete, an' he's pretty easy goin'.

Emma: (Mutters) Peter gives you your way too much.

Slip: Yeah, you were bein' stubborn.

Sach: Um, you were, too, Chief.

Mike: Let's face it, Slip. We're too much alike for our own good. I ain't gonna say we won't butt heads again. We will. We're just too used to bein' the ones in charge. Just...the next time we're in an emergency situation like that, let's agree to disagree. (Puts out a hand) Friends, Chief?

Slip: *Accepts Mike's hand with his good one* Friends.

Peter: That's much better.

Bob: There's one thing I want to know. What happened to Belavarg and Midge after the tower disappeared?

Mike: We have no idea. Belavarg, at the very least, probably ain't gone. Midge...well, we know how long Bela likes to keep lovers around.

Peter: Yeah, we saw what happened to Stella last year.

Emma: Belavarg's not gone, that much we know for sure. He's our other ongoing villain.

Mike: Do we need more of those?

Emma: It keeps things interesting.

Peter: Yeah, and keeps us literally in stitches.

Emma: It's fun to pick on you guys.

Bob: Hey Monkees, what was your favorite parts?

Mike: Defeatin' Belavarg.

Peter: Saving Mike and Slip from the Hansel and Gretel witch.

Micky: Not getting picked on.

Mike: Yeah, that must really make you happy. Usually, you're the one who gets the worst of it in this stuff...if it ain't me.

Davy: Playing with the ghosts was fun.

Bert: My biggest question is...how did this change from a dark fairy-tale to a romp through haunted woods? Ladies, I thought you said you'd had this one planned for months.

Emma: We did...and then we realized that we'd just done the two ancestor stories, plus two fantasy stories in a row for another fandom. And we didn't have as much for the fairy tale idea as we would have liked. We decided to do something simpler, and yet spookier than last year's mystery.

Lauren: This was a lot looser than the original story. We've proven we have a knack for improv.

Emma: The problem with the Halloween mystery last year was it was both too complicated and not developed enough. This time, we found a scary story we were really able to do a lot with and get into. (Grins) Not to mention we were able to work in a couple of fairy tales that haven't turned up much in our stories anyway.

Mike: For all the trouble we had, I think I liked this better than a dark fairy tale.

Peter: Yeah, we all might have gotten hurt in that!

Emma: Plus, it really helps that our current interests work far better with the Monkees' brand of humor than the characters we were into last year.

Mike: Now that, I appreciate.

Emma: I really liked doing this one. I think this is the best we've ever done on a spur-of-the-moment story.

Peter: You'd never know it was spur-of-the-moment.

Emma: Would you believe we came up with this idea the day before we started writing it?

Mike: Dang. You girls have gotten good.

Emma: (Grins at Lauren) I'm really rather proud of this story. It's much better than last year's Halloween story, and with less time working on it.

Lauren: I'm glad, considering I was the one that kiboshed the original idea.

Emma: No, you were totally right. We just did the ancestor stories and have written plenty of other fantasies. We needed to do something different, and this worked out very well.

Slip: *Groans* I gotta get some water. The pain med's worn off.

Mike: (Makes a glass of water appear in Slip's good hand in a blue light) There you go. Service right to the door.

Slip: Thanks. *Takes a sip of water, puts the glass down, and proceeds to fight with the bottle* Dammit.

Chuck: Slip, here, just let me...

Slip: I can get it!

Mike: (Puts a hand on Slip's shoulder) Swallow your pride and let him help. I learned this the hard way. It'll save you a lot of grief in the end.

Peter: And he'd still probably give us a hard time in the same situation.

*Slip stops fighting with it. Chuck reaches over and takes it from him. He opens the bottle, knocks one out, and gives it to Slip.*

Slip: Thanks. *He downs it with the whole glass of water, then sets it down and groans again.*

Emma: Do you need anything else?

Slip: I need a blunt object to the head.

Mike: I could provide that, no problem.

Emma: Mike!

Bob: Ok, ok. The poor guy's in enough pain.

Bert: (Turns to Chuck) Hey, where did the rest of you wander off to during this?

Chuck: Millie asked us to run some errands for her. After we finished, we went to the party, but were told the Monkees, Slip, and Sach hadn't shown up yet. The girls sent us out looking for them.

Emma: (Nods) We were worried about them. We would have gone out ourselves, but we had party guests to attend to.

Mike: Chuck, I'm glad you boys showed up when you did. We would have figured out how to send Slip and Sach to the hospital by blue-light without it being noticeable. We really had to get back to the girls.

Chuck: Just good timing, is all.

Bert: So, what's the story next month?

Emma: This time, we are going to attempt another mystery.

Peter: (Nods) That's right. You guys are going to help out with my job.

Emma: How many of you want to go back to school?

Mike: I wasn't happy there the first time.

Slip: Some of us didn't even finish.

Peter: There's a lot of strange stuff going on at the school where I work, and I really need your help!

Mike: We'll see what happens next month, Pete.

Emma: Next month's story is this year's novel-length NaNoWrite role-play. That's the program that encourages people to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It's going to take us a lot longer to do this than normal, so don't count on seeing the next story until near Thanksgiving.

Lauren: Not to mention I'm planning on attempting my own story for the NaNoWriMo myself.

Emma: And November is always a busy month. We'll probably have a lot on our plates in addition to writing.

Mike: (As the noise level in the party picks up) Maybe we should go check on our guests and make sure they haven't destroyed Micky's house yet.

Micky: Better not have, or they know that Lauren'll kick their collective asses.

Slip: *Waves his good hand* I'll be out here, waitin' for the med to kick in.

Peter: Why don't we finish the story and cut to the video?

Mike: Yeah. (He turns to the camera) Everyone here at Dream World hopes you and your family have a safe and spooky Halloween.

Peter: You can find lots more spooky ghost stories, frightening fairy tales, and tales of the supernatural online and in your local library.

Mike: See you next month!

(The entire group heads out to the party...except for Slip. He sits down, lays his head on his hand, and takes a nap.)

(Cut to the Rainbow Room as "I'll Be Back Up On My Feet" begins. Everyone still wears the same costumes they did at Micky's party. Emma dances with Slip, who still has his arm in a sling. Mike makes a face and pulls Emma a little closer to him. She shrugs and continues dancing. Peter chuckles as Mike misses a few beats, watching his wife's curvy rear in her short brown skirt. Peter dances a bit with Sach, both of them doing some rather odd bobbing motions.)

*Lauren chuckles, noticing Mike's missed beats. Chuck grins, then swings her out, hoping to do the same to Micky. Micky sees this and drops a drum stick. He scrambles for it.*

(Val, wearing a tux with short, tight pants and a top hat, curtseys for Butch. What a sweet army for a lovely magician!)

*Butch bows and takes Val's hand.*

*Daphne goes to Whitey. He blushes, then nods and stumbles slightly. Daphne smiles at him.*

(As the song ends, Valerie bows for Butch. She takes Peter and Butch's arms and strolls off, chatting amicably with both.)

(Emma sighs and takes Mike's arm and Slip's good arm. Don't you two start fighting again! They're glaring at each other as they head off.)

*Davy joins Daphne and Whitey. Davy claps Whitey's shoulder, thanking him for keeping her company.*

*Lauren smiles as Micky walks over. She punches his arm. Micky grins. He and Chuck shake hands. They go to either side of Lauren and walk off-stage.*

*Sach just dances by himself, paying no mind to the others.*

(As we fade out on Sach dancing, we fade in on a black and red "Happy Halloween from all of us at 'Dream World'!" graphic, the font seeming to drip blood.)

(Cut to "I'll Be Back Up On My Feet" played over stills of scenes from the "production." We end with a shot of Slip, Sach, and the Monkees running in the graveyard, their bodies silhouetted by the full moon, and the words "A Raybert Production" in the black and red dripping blood font.)